Catholic Men’s Daily Devotional – 12th Week in Ordinary Time – Monday – Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus continues His proclamation of the New Covenant in the Sermon on the Mount. Having revealed how men are to seek inner holiness in Chapters 5 and 6, Jesus now turns to proceed on the path to holiness by how sinful men are to engage other sinful men.

Christ warns men to not judge other men. Christ is not saying to accept sin, for Christ hates sin and urges fraternal correction here, by “taking the speck out of your brother’s eye” (v. 5), and elsewhere (Matt 18:15). Christ is saying men are not to condemn another man either in public or in his private thoughts.  Only Jesus Christ, the Divine Judge, has the authority and power to judge all men, separating His “sheep from the goats” (Matt 25:21-46).

Jesus warns men why they should not judge another man.  As He teaches in the Lord’s Prayer, men will be forgiven their trespasses only if they forgive others (Matt 6:12); here He reveals that men will be judged by the way they have judged.  He also calls men who judge other men “hypocrites”, humorously describing how sinful men have a wooden beam in their own eye that blinds a their ability to rightly judge another.

Instead of judging, Christ directs men to focus on their own growth in holiness.  As one’s sins lessen and men become more filled with Christ’s light, they can gently help another willing soul to turn from sin (i.e. helping a brother remove a splinter in his eye).

Awed by Jesus Christ – Jesus, the Divine King, authoritatively commands men not to judge.  Divine Teacher, Jesus has deep insights into the hearts of men and why they should not attempt judgment, doing so with memorable phrases and humor. Divine Judge, Christ has the power to judge every man and explains part of His approach.

Being a Heroic Catholic Man

1) Christ talks tough, strongly rebuking men who judge others and reveals that He will judge each man by how they judged. Consider Christ’s manly, powerful and clear words and imagine your own judgment.

2) Christ directs men to “remove the beam from their eye.”  Each man has a multitude of sins.  Do an in-depth examination of conscience, commit to work on your most prevalent sins and go to Confession.

3) A common tactic of those who promote sin is to cherry pick and twist Christ’s words (e.g.“thou shall not judge”) as a way to silence public debate. Commit to grow in your understanding of the fullness of Christ’s teachings as preserved by the Catholic Church to strengthen you in confronting sin in public life. Learn apologetics.

Spiritual Practices – Include in Today’s Prayers

Sacred Mystery of Rosary – The Joyful Mysteries

Daily Devotion – The Souls in Purgatory

Virtue of the Day – Prudence