It is so very easy to criticize another person

Reading: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” Matthew 11:18-19.

Good morning happy Friday and many blessings my dear family.

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:16-19) Jesus says to his listeners: “To what shall I compare this generation?”  He then states that this generation is “like children who sit in the market place and call out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you but you did not dance; we sang a dirge for you but you did not mourn!’’   Jesus then shifts gears.  He talks about John, who was holy and ascetical.  However, the people criticized him, saying: “He is possessed by a demon.”

Jesus then says: ‘The Son of Man came eating and drinking” and they accuse Him of being a glutton and drunkard.  They also criticize Him for being a friend of tax collectors and sinners.  Then Jesus quietly says: “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”  No matter what Jesus did, in the eyes of the Pharisees, they criticized him.  Everything he did was wrong!  

It is important, as Jesus urges us again, that we really try to listen to the essence of what Jesus left us, his vision of the Kingdom. Very few of us hear the message without some form of filtering due to our history or our personal experiences.

Jesus’ words to the Pharisees must have angered them and perhaps solidified their belief that this man needed “to be taken care of.”  How dare Jesus criticize them publicly!  Yet I wonder if one or two or three of the Pharisees took Jesus’ words to heart?  Did Jesus’ critical words penetrate into their minds and hearts?  Did his words stay with them and prompt them to look deeply into their lives, their motivation and perhaps their superiority?  

It is so very easy to criticize another person.  We see their actions, we hear their words and we read their expression.  However, we cannot “see” the individual’s heart.  We do not appreciate it when another person criticizes us.  Thus what a great gift it is to “catch” our criticism of an individual and release our criticism of the person.  In this process, we not only give a gift to that person, we also give a gift to ourselves.  Today may we strive to be non-judgmental, loving and gracious.  Who knows?  We may receive a similar gift! 

We live in a world with many prejudices. The person who says something can be taken as more important than what was said. There can be failure to acknowledge the context. While Jesus’ life-style was very different from that of John, both were rejected. The hearers saw the difficulty as outside themselves, not within. They needed wisdom to be able to interpret the truth of the call to change.

Jesus desires me to be free. I have my own prejudices. Where am I called to be more free of them? Who are the tax collectors and sinners that I am called to befriend? I ask Jesus for the freedom that opens me more fully to follow him more closely.

Blessings,

Luis+