Today’s Thoughts: Pope Francis writes in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel, “The good news is the joy of the Father who desires that none of his little ones be lost, the joy of the Good Shepherd who finds the lost sheep and brings it back to the flock. The Gospel is the leaven which causes the dough to rise and the city on the hill whose light illumines all peoples. The Gospel has an intrinsic principle of totality: it will always remain good news until it has been proclaimed to all people, until it has healed and strengthened every aspect of humanity, until it has brought all men and women together at table in God’s kingdom. The whole is greater than the part.”
Jesus throughout his ministry is often judged by appearance. At one point in the Gospel story he even says to the religious leaders, “You judge by appearances….” This continues to happen today, often our judgments of people are just based on appearances. It is either the color of their skin, their ethnic background, the language they are speaking, the clothing they are wearing, the god they believe in, the part of the world they come from that we use to decide who people are. We have not bothered to stop and talk with them or listen to their story or understand what they believe and value. We just judge them, we put them into a box from which they will never escape. We might say that his words remind us of the value of the Gospel today. It is “Good News” for all people, not just those we think are worthy, not just those who conform to the law, not just those who do, see and think the way we do. The Gospel heals, strengthens and brings joy to all. Like Susanna, we might be judged falsely but we should not fear because the Good Shepherd is always with us. For me an interesting thing about our Gospel (John 8:1-11) story today has always been that it is only the woman who is brought before Jesus. She was caught in the act of adultery so there had to be a man there but only the woman is dragged before Jesus. It gives you a sense of the injustice that was present in society at that time. Women were pieces of property along with children, not treated in an equal way. She is judged by the fact that she is a woman. She has been placed in the box of judgment. Jesus however has a different way of looking at life and society. Perhaps he sees the injustice and responds to it, or perhaps Jesus just sees every person as someone created in the image and likeness of God. Perhaps he sees someone who has made a mistake yet deserves another chance. Perhaps Jesus sees life were the crowd sees death. Perhaps Jesus sees the possibility for change and newness of life and the crowd sees only the law and punishment. Jesus always seems to be judged by appearance by the religious leaders of his time. He cannot escape the box they have placed him in no matter what he does and says or how hard he tries. The problem is when people are judged in this way, those who do the judging lose. The religious leaders lose because they missed the presence of God in their life. God was standing in their midst and they didn’t see God. God can be standing in our midst, perhaps not as dramatically as Jesus, but God is still presence in others and if we judge them by only appearance we lose. Susanna (Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) was judged unfairly and what we learn from her story is that unfair judgments always catch up with those who do the judging. The truth always finds its way to the surface. It can be a difficult process and at times we need people like Daniel to point out the flaws in our judgment, but truth will always win even though it may take time, sometimes a lifetime. As we go about our day let us not judge by appearance. Let us look for the truth, look for the presence of God in all we meet. Let us be guided by the Light of the world. Have a blessed, holy and safe Monday everyone!
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Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P. "Preacher on the Run"Just a few thoughts to help you on your journey through life...let me know from time to time what you think... Archives
May 2023
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