PLAY FAIR; BE TRUE TO YOUR NEIGHBOR!
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
My dear encountered couples:
Jesus did many good things, he was perfect in every way. But thinking he was blaspheming by speaking of himself as equal to God, the Jews wanted to stone him. That one sin of blasphemy they mistakenly accused him of made them forget all the good he did. How often do we do things like that in regard to other people?
There are people who do many good things, many good works. But because none of us is perfect as God or Jesus, we can also be found doing things that are not so good, that are even sinful. If we are going to judge someone’s worth, let us not get carried away by one or two traits or sins that we might find detracting from that person’s worth. Let us not get hung up on one thing so much that it blinds us to all the good that person has done.
A person might have a drinking problem, might have smoked marijuana on occasions - might still do it. A person might have a sexual weakness, a temper problem, an annoying habit - might even dress funny. But if we find him or her responsible for doing good things, let us concentrate on those. If we are going to judge people’s worth, let us look to the good they do and give them a fair shake. This is what Jesus said to the Jews about himself:
“Do you claim that I blasphemed when, as he whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, put no faith in me. But if I perform them, even though you put no faith in me, put faith in these works so as to realize what it means that the Father is in me and I in him.”
Let us not miss seeing the good works of others. For if we do, we just might be missing out on seeing God who is within them.a
