OXYGEN

05 Sep - Friday in the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

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1 Cor 4:1-5

People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God. 

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Luke 5:33-39

They then said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’

He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old.

‘And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good” he says.’

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Do not make any judgment before the appointed time.

There are two main kinds of judgment that exist: judgment of the person and judgment of the person’s actions. It is very hard to separate the two; however, we must keep praying for the ability to separate the two because we must be able to judge actions (we must know what is right from wrong), but we must never judge the person (i.e., condemn someone). The judgment that St. Paul speaks of in the first reading refers to judgment of people, including ourselves.

Personally, I find it very easy to judge and condemn myself. When I have said something silly, the voice in my mind repeatedly taunts, “Why are you so stupid?!” When I have failed to do something, I immediately label myself as ‘selfish’, ‘proud’, etc. The irony is that we tend to believe that by putting ourselves down, we would become less complacent and strive for improvement. However, more often than not, we trap ourselves in a vicious cycle where the more we judge ourselves, the more we reject ourselves, and the more helpless we become – until we eventually give up on improving ourselves.

We must remember that we are not called to be judges of human character; this is a role that is reserved only for God at the end of time. Since we are not God, we are not competent enough to judge anyone. Let us surrender our habit of judging both ourselves and others to the one true judge and remember that until the end of our lives, we are free from any judgment and condemnation. God reserves all judgment until the appointed time. Till then, every day presents a brand new opportunity to grow, change, live, and love.

(Today’s sharing by Jean Cheng)

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Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for the many times when I have passed judgment on others and myself. Help me to surrender this habit of judging to you and to trust in your grace and mercy for me.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to God for always trying His best to free us from our worldly ways.

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Upcoming readings:

Sat, 06 Sep – 1 Cor 4:6b-15; Luke 6:1-5
Sun, 07 Sep – Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10, Matthew 15:15-20; Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time