Our Holy Father Nicephorus the Confessor (829)
Apostle’s Fast
Read
Romans 3:19-26; Matthew 7:1-8
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
“Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Easy words to say, but hard to put into practice. We live our lives in regular, even constant, contact with other people – people who often do foolish things, silly things, unwise things, hurtful things. In other words, living with people makes not judging a nearly impossible task.
So what’s the solution? Perhaps I should remind myself of today’s parable of the “two eyes” – my eye with the log and my brother’s eye with the speck. This parable does take seriously how easy, even natural, it is to see the faults of others, but it offers the key reminder that my vision that is impaired. After all, how could I, who am effected by sin as much as the next man, expect to see clearly. Whenever I see the sins of others, I don’t have to pretend that they aren’t sins – instead, before condemning them, I need to look to myself and acknowledge that my own sight is deficient, because of my own sins. Then I have nothing left to do but thank God for his mercy to me, and to anyone I am tempted to judge.