Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time 2020

In our Gospel today (Mt 7:1-5) Jesus cautions his disciples not to judge others, saying that the measure by which we judge others, we will be judged. Jesus continues, asking how we can judge others while not recognizing our own faults, using the analogy of seeing a splinter in the eye of our brother while having a wooden beam in our own eye. While we are not to judge someone's heart, we certainly can and should discern right from wrong. For example; we know someone driving 50 mph in a 25 mph school zone is violating the speed limit and that is wrong. What we don't know is the person's heart, or why this driver was speeding. Are they racing to the hospital because of a medical emergency? Or, do they believe they are above the law? We would do well to heed Jesus' instructions, particularly in these days of instant news and soundbites. What we are shown and told isn't always the full story, and rarely do we know the heart of those involved.