Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Mt. 7:2)  How frightening!  God will judge us as we judge others. 

After Jesus was tempted in the desert, the Gospel of Luke tells us that he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and began his public ministry.  He taught in the synagogues of the region and news started to spread about him throughout the whole countryside. 

He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.  He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and read from the scroll of Isaiah where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of the sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18-19)

Then he proclaimed that this scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing.  In other words, he was God’s long awaited anointed one, the Messiah!  At first the people were amazed about his gracious words, but then they started asking, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”They became furious with what Jesus was saying and claiming to be. 

How quick we are to judge and stereotype the people in our lives!

Sometimes we do this even with members of our own families or friends with whom we are most familiar.   We form a view or perspective about them, and then if they step outside our perspective or exceed our expectations, we refuse to accept what we see.  If they change, mature or exhibit growth in some way, we have trouble accepting their new state.  We make a judgment about someone based upon our experience with them or judge them by their appearance. 

We may recall the TV show, Britain’s Got Talent, when a singer from a small village in Scotland, Susan Boyle, appeared on the program.  She was 47, appeared to have a somewhat dowdy appearance and was a bit awkward in her speech and manner.  It was clear that both the judges and the audience had immediately formed a low, almost mocking reaction to her, until she started singing the song, I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.  

Almost immediately, their mockery turned into shouts of approval and a standing ovation for her beautiful voice.  Even one of the judges admitted afterwards he had never been so surprised by the performance of a singer.  Another judge apologized for her initial reaction.  Boyle became an overnight sensation on the internet and around the world.

How do you avoid judging others? 

“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.”  (Eph. 6:12)

I have a good friend who spent most of his Army career in defense intelligence serving in Vietnam, Cambodia and in the preparation for Desert Storm.  I have always been fascinated by his stories of how he and his teams were able to develop and provide important intelligence to his superiors that guided our strategies in these various theaters of war. 

How ironic that we wouldn’t think of going to war without knowing our enemy and his plans, but yet we don’t even acknowledge that we have an enemy of life and one who is dedicated to defeating the purpose and desire that God has for each of us!  

We are all tempted by the evil one — even Jesus in the desert at the beginning of his public ministry; even Peter and the apostles at Jesus’ passion; even Paul who said, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” (Ro. 7:19)

I know that I have been tempted by and given into all of the capital sins of pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.  Sometimes, through God’s grace and mercy, and the power of the Holy Spirit, I have resisted them.  Let me share one example.  

In my work as an attorney for an oil company, one of our responsibilities was to represent the company before state legislatures on legislation impacting company operations.  As a result, we would develop and implement the lobbying strategies on the company position developed by our planning department.  One of the employees in the planning department started to critique our lobbying strategies.  At first his criticism dealt only with one issue, and then it expanded to all issues.  He was becoming a real thorn in our side, and I found myself engaged in constant battle with him. 

Then one day, I came across the above passage from Ephesians and I realized that my battle was not with him as a person, but with the pride that was at work in both of us.  I started to pray for him and that both of us could lay aside our pride and work in greater harmony.  After a few months, I noticed that his responses to our work were less critical.  I began to bring him more into the rationale of what we were doing.  We eventually became friends instead of rivals. 

As the Epistle James says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:7-8)

Do you recognize the influence of the enemy in your life? How do you resist him? 

“Small wonder that pride gives birth to division, and love to unity.” (St. Augustine)  Let me share two stories – one ending in division, and the other in unity. 

As an attorney for an oil company for most of my career, I saw many examples of St. Augustine’s statement play out in the corporate world, particularly in cases involving multi-party litigation.  In one such case a west coast oil company had filed a patent on a particular gasoline formula mandated by the state of California.  Since the gasoline formula was required by a state regulation, everyone assumed the formula was in the public domain and could not be patented.   Still, the company who filed the patent brought a patent infringement case against all other refiners selling gasoline in the state.  

So, we had one plaintiff company on one side and a dozen defendant companies on the other.  Sometimes there would be as many as thirty lawyers present at the defendants’ joint counsel meetings.  The pride of supposed expertise of a number of the lawyers made it difficult to establish a unified defense. As a result, a case characterized by some of the defendants as a “slam dunk,” was lost at both trial and on appeal. 

Let me offer a contrasting example.  When I retired, I went to work for Christians in Commerce, now d/b/a WorkLight, a Christian ministry to the workplace.   After about a year, we brought our executive committee together to pray about our vision and mission, and the direction the ministry would take in future years. 

The Executive Committee was made up of five people with very diverse business backgrounds, including leadership positions in banking, advertising, insurance, a former international airline pilot and myself.   In spite of our diversity, we all had a love for God, respect for one another and a desire to seek God’s will for the ministry. 

We spent the first day primarily in prayer and discussion with the following scripture becoming prominent in our thinking: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)  This gave rise to the belief that God wanted us to expand his kingdom by “being Christ in the workplace.”  We believed he was calling us to encourage and equip Christians to bring his presence into their workplaces in terms of how work is done. 

Our love for God and one another brought a unity of purpose at the time and into the future.  As the years advanced, this unity evolved into our mission, “to encourage and equip Christians to be God’s presence in the workplace by the power of the Holy Spirit, exercising faith, integrity and excellence.”

There is no limit to what unity in the love of God and one another can accomplish!

How do you strive for unity in your workplace?

“Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:48)

These are the words of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, who was sitting beside the road outside of Jericho as Jesus passed by.  He wanted Jesus to heal him of his blindness.  Mark tells us that the crowd was rebuking Bartimaeus to be quiet, but he shouted all the more.  Jesus rewarded his perseverance, restored his sight and said, “Your faith has healed you.”  

On another occasion, the disciples were trying to prevent people from bringing their little children to Jesus.  Jesus indignantly said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  He took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”  (Mark 10:13-16) 

On both occasions, the crowd and the disciples were misguided in trying to protect Jesus from people seeking his presence, blessing and healing.  They didn’t understand that all of Jesus’ actions were about ushering in the kingdom of God by bringing God’s presence, love, and healing to the people of their day. 

Jesus continues to bring God’s presence, love and healing in our day to all who seek him through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is important that we not participate in the action of the crowd that hinders someone in their quest for Jesus.  This is particularly true with respect to raising our children in the Christian faith. 

In a similar way, we must guard against letting others hinder us in fulfilling God’s will in serving him and the people in our lives.  When I was in my early 30’s I occasionally found myself going along with other people in my office in stopping at a local watering hole after work.  This would result in my getting home late and missing dinner with my family.  Fortunately, after experiencing a special encounter with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I preferred to be home with my wife and family.    

It is tempting to go with the flow of the crowd and do what seems popular and easy, but the crowd seldom gets it right. It was the crowd that yelled, “Crucify him!  Crucify him!” (Mt. 27:22-23)  It was the crowd in the Roman Colosseum that took delight in the killing of Christians in the early centuries of the church. 

One of the laws God gave to Moses was, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” (Exodus 32:2)  After more than three thousand years, this is still an important rule to follow. 

Are there times when you have been tempted to follow the will of the crowd instead of God?

“When Herod heard John [the Baptist] he was greatly puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him.” (Mark 6:20)  After Herod had John imprisoned, he would visit him, apparently fascinated by the things that John had to say.  Why did Herod like to listen to John?  Because John spoke the truth, and truth is attractive. 

Jesus told Pilate that the reason he came into the world was to testify to the truth.  Pilate asked, “What is truth, though the embodiment of all truth was standing right in front of him?  (John 18:37-38)

There is a purity in the truth that makes it attractive.  We have several common expressions about truth:  “Honesty is the best policy;” “As God is my witness;” “As a matter of fact;” “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” 

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teachings, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  (John 8:32) There is freedom that comes with the truth – freedom from guilt, fear, and sin.  All four gospels report how people were amazed at the wisdom of Jesus’ teachings and how he taught with authority.  Truth carries a certain authority with it.

From earliest childhood, our sinful human nature tends to obscure the truth to protect our selfish instincts.  One sibling blames another for starting a fight that the first sibling initiated.  We begin to lie to cover up misbehavior and sinful conduct.  Without strong parental guidance and moral teaching, truth is increasingly pushed aside.

As a lawyer, I was regularly called on to interpret whether certain proposed actions of corporate clients were consistent with applicable law.  Sometimes, a proposed action was in direct conflict with what a particular law or regulation required.  I would have to overcome the tendency to tell the affected manager what he wanted to hear, and instead hold to the truth that his proposed action would run afoul of the law.  In those cases, I would always try to suggest alternative actions that would satisfy both the client objective and the law.  

Truth is attractive; sets us free, and helps us live out our lives with confidence. 

As we celebrate the 247^th anniversary of our nation’s birth this day, even our founders recognized the significance of truth in our founding documents: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness –“

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”  (John 14:6)

How do you deal with the challenges to truth in your life?

“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” (Luke 8:39)

These are the words of Jesus to a man named Legion from whom he had delivered many demons.  The Gospel of Luke reports, “For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. Many times [the evil spirits] had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains.”  He was so violent that no one would come near him.  After Jesus had delivered him of many demons, the man begged to go with Jesus, but Jesus told him to stay where he was and tell everyone how much God had done for him. (Luke 8:26-39)  

Jesus calls us to be a witness to him and his action in our lives. (Acts 1:8)  The psalms and St. Paul encourage us to give thanksgiving in all circumstances. (Psalm 100:4; 1Th. 5:16)  So, how do we tell people what God has done for us without sounding prideful or boastful?

Jesus alluded to this question in his Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector where he warned the disciples about being self-righteous.  The Pharisee prayed, thanking God that he was not “like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like the tax collector.”  He went on to say, “I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”  Jesus then said, “But the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus declared that it was the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who went home justified before God.  The Pharisee was not thanking God for what God had done in his life, but rather what he, the Pharisee had done. (Luke 18:9- 14)

This past week, my wife, Marilynn and I spent six days in Colorado celebrating our 60^th wedding anniversary, the same state in which we spent our honeymoon.  How can you capture 60 years together in marriage and remember all of God’s blessings and some of the trials?  Four married children who are raising loving families and have given us thirteen grandchildren; an adult daughter with special needs who has taught us more about God and his ways than any sermon; a family who truly love each other and get along so well; and personal encounters with the Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit on back to back evenings one October many years ago.   

So we offer thanks to God for all that he has done for us, not out of pride, but as a grateful witness to his grace, love and care. 

When you experience a blessing from God, do you tell other people about it?

Before COVID, I took communion to residents at a local nursing home.  Sometimes residents afflicted with Alzheimer’s were not able to physically receive the Body of Christ in the host, so I would offer to say the Lord’s Prayer with them.  As I started to say the Lord’s Prayer, they would often try to say it with me.  A small step for both them and me, but one where God was fully present! 

The Book of Acts reports that sometime after Pentecost, Peter and John were entering the temple and a man crippled since birth asked them for money.  Peter looked straight at him and said, “Look at us!”  So the man, expecting to get something from them, gave them his attention.

Then Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazorean, walk.”  Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. (Acts 3:1-10)

Before the man could be healed he had to look at the presence of God in the person of Peter.  He had to be willing to look God’s way before God could act in his life.  It may have been a first step for him, a small step in moving toward God, but it was a small step that led to him leaping for joy in praise of God.

God in his love and mercy will take the smallest movement from us toward him and act on it.  Having been a cripple since birth, this man had probably been begging for many years at the temple gates.  He was likely ignored by most people passing by.  For the few that dropped a coin in his cup, even they may have gone on without acknowledging him. 

So here was Peter, who did something hardly anyone ever did.  He stopped, gave the man his full attention, talked to him and offered him God’s presence and healing. 

There is a lesson here for people on both ends of this spectrum.  To followers of Christ Jesus, we have the capacity to bring the presence of God through the power of the Holy Spirit to the people and circumstances in our lives.  To those who are lame, in need, and impoverished in spirit, the smallest response on their part toward God begets a response from God. 

What small step are you able to make to bring God’s presence to someone?

Our human nature tends to want to give the appearance that we are strong, smart, and capable of handling things ourselves and not dependent upon the help of others.  This is true in most areas of life, particularly in the workplace.  But St. Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  (Philippians 2:3)

After having worked as an attorney for an oil company for most of my career, I was asked to take an assignment overseeing policy and governmental compliance for our environmental, health and safety operations.  The staff of this organization was made up entirely of engineers and people with technical and scientific backgrounds, a knowledge base in which I was severely lacking.

Shortly after assuming this assignment, one of our audit teams had discovered several operational deficiencies in one our African affiliates that was responsible for producing a significant percentage of our crude oil production worldwide – over 600 thousand barrels a day, all offshore.   Because of the significance of this affiliate’s operations and its contribution to the overall profitability of the company, the audit findings became quite controversial. 

The affiliate attacked both the findings and the competence of our audit team.  Thus, it became my role to defend the audit team and their findings before senior management involving technical engineering issues for which I had little expertise.  Acknowledging my lack of knowledge in this area, I had to ask our staff for help – to literally educate me on each of the technical issues so I could overcome the arguments of the affiliate’s engineers. 

With the staff’s assistance, we were able to persuade management to accept the findings of the audit team and their expertise.  As a result, several changes in the affiliate’s operations were implemented that helped to avoid future accidents affecting employee safety and potential environmental harm.    

When we acknowledge that we need help, we are humbling ourselves before God and others.  Psalm 25:9 says the Lord “guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”   Jesus says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.”  (Mt. 11:29)

Ironically, acknowledging our limitations is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength.  We are confessing the truth of who we are and what we are capable of doing and not doing. As Jesus said to St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) 

God, the creator of all that exists, performed one of the greatest acts of humility and love of all time when he became an embryo in Mary’s womb to become one of his created in the person of Jesus.   

Think of a time when you humbled yourself and acknowledged a need for help or guidance?

At the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he challenges us to put his many words into practice. (Mt. 7:24) We are to love, to forgive, to care for those in need, to be generous, reflect the Beatitudes, seek God and his kingdom, and trust in God in all things. (Matthew, Chapters 5 – 7)    

When we do these things, Jesus says we are like a man who built his house on a rock. The rains came, the streams rose, the winds blew, but the house remained and did not fall.  The rock, of course, is Jesus. 

What kind of foundation is your life built on?  Is it based on the values of the world – wealth, position, pleasure and all of the things that popular culture esteems – like a house built on sand; or is it built on love and the values Jesus describes in his Sermon on the Mount? 

I have friends who have been volunteering for Special Olympics for over 40 years.  In addition to Special Olympics, they were instrumental in starting and funding one of the first special education programs in a Catholic high school in the U. S – St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Virginia. More than a dozen students with intellectual and developmental disabilities have enrolled in this program each year since 1998, including our daughter, Emily.  More than a hundred students from the general student body volunteer each year as peer mentors to these students, assisting with their inclusion in various academic courses and school activities.  As a result, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive an education that serves their academic, social and spiritual needs in a loving and nurturing environment. 

These same families joined with others to establish Porto Charities, a non-profit organization to raise funds to support inclusive education and employment in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia.  Today, with the support of Bishop Michael Burbidge, there are special education programs in all four of the diocese’s high schools and sixteen parish schools.  Twenty-seven young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are employed in the diocese’s offices, schools and parishes.  

On June 24, Porto Charities will hold its 1^st Annual Advocacy Awards Dinner, beginning with mass celebrated by Bishop Burbidge, followed by a reception and dinner.  Advocacy Awards | Porto Charities

The families involved may not talk a lot about their faith, but Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

How are you putting Jesus’s words into practice in your life? 

If you ask someone how they are doing, they will likely tell you how busy they are.  And it’s true.  Most of us are on the go all of the time.  Both parents working demanding jobs, getting kids off to school, attending children sporting events, preparing meals, volunteering for various activities – all contribute to a feverish pace that can crowd out our focus on God’s place in our lives.  Our cell phones make us available 24/7 to bosses, customers, family and friends.

 While we may believe that our modern life has become more hectic than prior ages, the erosion of our focus on God is a condition Christians have faced from the very beginning.  In the Book of Revelation we read of Jesus criticizing the Church of Ephesus for forsaking its first love of God.  He chides them for how far they have fallen and tells them to “repent and do the things you did at first.”  (Rev. 2:5)   To the Church of Laodicea, he complains, “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot.  So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:15-16) 

After experiencing a reconversion of my faith in my mid 30’s, a certain “wow” factor seemed to pervade everything.  God seemed so present to me through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Prayers at mass took on new life.  Words seemed to leap off the page of scripture with new insight and meaning.  Recently, I got out the Bible I had begun reading back then and was surprised at all the handwritten notes I had made in the margins recording various insights at the time.  I also found a couple of letters from two of our daughters that I had stashed away.  Each of them had commented on the impact they saw that the Lord was having on their mother and father and our family.

Forty years later, I wonder if my zeal and enthusiasm has waned a bit.  Yet, I know that God has not changed.  Nor has the need changed for us to be and bring his presence to the people and circumstances in our lives. 

In today’s Liturgy of the Hours, Cyril of Jerusalem says, “The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console.  The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through him, the minds of others as well.”

In the midst of life’s daily cares, how do you retain the “wow” of your faith in God?