Reading
Lk 6:36-38
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Meditation
Jesus does not want us servants but children, in whom the divine image and likeness is restored, by the work of his sanctifying grace. He, therefore, exhorts us to imitate the Father in his highest perfection: mercy. Being merciful like the Father means being perfect like him (Mt 5:48). Charity is in fact the bond of perfection (Col 3:14).
Commanding us not to judge, Jesus does not condemn true discernment, but the arrogance and hypocrisy of those who recognize the errors of others while forgetting their own fallibility and weakness. "Love and faithfulness meet together," says Psalm 85: the ability to forgive the debts of others arises in fact from recognizing the truth of our condition, our being the first to be indebted to God.
The ability to forgive moves from the awareness that only God can understand the true intention behind man's actions: "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1Sam 16:7). The ultimate judgment on man is a prerogative of God, which we must not usurp. Rather, we are called to imitate the clemency of him, who does not lose confidence in the sinner's ability to reach the conversion. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, because he cannot deny himself (2Tm 2:13).
Jesus overturns the "law of retaliation" ("An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"; Ex 21:24), instructing his disciples with two negations and two affirmations: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you" (vv. 37-38).
When we refuse to forgive our neighbor, our hearts close to God's mercy; when we recognize our sin the heart opens to grace and becomes even more capable of forgiveness, in a growing flow of love.
To be able to forgive, we must recognize ourselves as men forgiven by God. Let us be ready to receive his mercy abundantly - "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over" (v. 38) - and to share it with those in need of forgiveness, in order to obtain more of it. Let's become sowers of peace and compassion.
Prayer
O Lord, may the mercy that you pour out on us every day not be lost; but make us ready to sow fruits of peace. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
