What do you measure out to others?
Gospel Reflection for March 17, 2025
“Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. 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.” (Lk. 6:36-38 NABRE)
Today’s Gospel reminds us to take a moment to analyze how we treat others. Are we critical and judgmental? Or loving and compassionate?
It can be so easy to judge others and the way they do and maybe even say things. Perhaps there are people in our lives who are not so easy to get along with. Our knee-jerk reaction might often be to become annoyed or frustrated with those whom we don’t always see eye to eye with. However, we must remember that how we judge others, is how we’ll be judged. Whatever the reason may be for experiencing a disconnect with someone, we must remember to handle our differences with love.
Would we want the Lord to dread seeing us and speaking to us? Would we want Him to be passive aggressive towards us or look for every excuse to avoid us? Would we want Him to ignore us, seem uninterested in what we have to say, or for Him to roll his eyes at us?
Now of course our God is perfect Love and would not treat us as such, but what I’m trying to say is sometimes we have these internal feelings towards others which we sometimes express externally through our body language and how we treat them. But, would we want to experience being treated in these ways? Would we want Jesus to treat us the same way that we ourselves think about others and act towards them?
We are called to forgive others, love them, and treat them as our brothers and sisters in Christ. May we strive to love others more deeply, including those people whom we sometimes struggle to get along with. If we want to be judged and treated with love and mercy, we must be loving and merciful towards others.
Thank you Lexis. There is far too much judging and whining against those we disagree with. Let's pray for ourselves and others to become more compassionate toward one another. When we point at others remember there are 4 fingers pointing back at ourselves. Let's do our part to bring peace to the world.