The beginning of Holy Week is a significant time to think about Jesus’ last days before He died on the cross and rose from the dead. Today’s Gospel tells us to be kind, forgive, and not judge others. We are told to be merciful, just like God is merciful to us. 

Today is a good day to practice being merciful. To forgive those who have wronged us. To overlook the offenses done against us. 

Unforgiveness is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die. When we forgive someone, it doesn’t make what happened OK. It also doesn’t follow that reconciliation will happen immediately. Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things. We can forgive and still establish healthy boundaries. It doesn’t mean we condone the wrong behavior. When we forgive, we let God’s love change our hearts and let Him handle justice.

God is bigger than your hurts. When you bring your hurts to Him, it is easier to forgive. Forgiveness starts with a decision to be merciful. God will take care of the rest. You can trust Him to make things right. 

Randy Borromeo (randy.b@svrtv.com)

reflect

Do you need to forgive someone today? Can you forgive as you have been forgiven?

Dear God, teach me to trust You when I find it hard to forgive. Remind me that as I have received Your mercy, I must be merciful.

Saint Patrick, bishop, patron of Ireland and Nigeria, pray for us.

Humility is the beginning of repentance. One of the most difficult realities we face in life is our mistakes. We know how hard it is to admit that we are wrong. Let us get into the habit of admitting our faults so that our sins do not build up and overwhelm us. The Church tells us that we should confess our sins at least once a year, yet regular confession is a great help to our spiritual life.

⁴ “Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! ⁵ We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws. ⁶ We have not obeyed your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. ⁷ Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries to which you have scattered them because of their treachery toward you. ⁸ O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you. ⁹ But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness! Yet we rebelled against you ¹⁰ and paid no heed to your command, O Lord, our God, to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets.” 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 79:8, 9, 11, 13

R: Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

⁸ Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. (R) ⁹ Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake. (R) ¹¹ Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you; with your great power free those doomed to death. ¹³ Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; through all generations we will declare your praise. (R)

Gospel | Luke 6:36-38

We will not achieve holiness unless we do away with sin and choose good over evil. Forgiveness always includes the element of compassion, a readiness to understand why someone may have sinned against you. This does not excuse the sin or make it unimportant in the relationship. Let us be compassionate regarding others’ sins against us. May God and others also have compassion on us when we sin against them.

Gospel Acclamation

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.

³⁶ Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ³⁷ “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read GENESIS 19 - 21 today.

I chanced upon this funny and forceful meme on Facebook: “While you were busy judging others… You left your closet door open and a lot of skeletons fell out! Ooops!”

Judging is normal, natural, and necessary part of daily life. Any human interaction necessitates good judgment. In order to communicate or respond effectively, we must interpret, evaluate, and form judgments about the world we live in and the people whom we relate with. Prudent and pragmatic judgment must also be exercised, most especially by those who hold the special “mission” as temporal judge or magistrate, or those engaged in fraternal correction, wherein judgment is done in the service of truth.

While human judgment is inevitable, it is temporary and limited. It tends to see only the external and the superficial. It can be biased in focusing on the faults and failures of others, even assuming the worst in their words, actions, motives, or intentions while being slow to admit one’s own.

Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung said, “Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” Judging charitably is hard because it requires open mindedness, patience, and compassion. 

The world is our mirror. The things we loathe in our surroundings are a reflection of the things we cannot accept about ourselves. 

Fr. Paolo Asprer, SSP

reflection question

How easily do you judge others, especially their faults and weaknesses? Bring this to God in your prayer today and ask for the grace to be more charitable in judging others.

Holy Spirit, grant me the grace of right judgment so I may judge others humbly not smugly, gently not harshly, privately not publicly, as the Father, the Ultimate Judge, whose “mercy triumphs over his judgment” (James 2:13), has so graciously done for me. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ____________________________________