Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone (John 8:7)

[PetraG]

How can we bear witness to the Gospel by following Our Lord’s command not to judge.

After all, the Holy Father said “Look in the mirror before judging others”.

How can we improve our own behaviour?

Do what the Pope said, because if you read the entire passage Our Lord did not say not to judge, but to judge in the same way we want ourselves to be judged.
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye."

You hear this in good homilies all of the time: that is, the priest relates how a particular point applies to him or the priest relates the kind of temptations he’d feel if he were in a particular situation or the kind of support he’d need if he were in a certain situation. He preaches in a way that encourages those listening that if they commit some kind of sin, they know they can come to him and all he will want to do is to help them gain a victory over that fault. They aren’t going to go away with the impression that sin is OK, but they’re also not going to be afraid to bring this thing to confession. Likewise, those who don’t do it gain an appreciation of how to support those who do.

 

[Justin_Mary]

Do what the Pope said, because if you read the entire passage Our Lord did not say not to judge, but to judge in the same way we want ourselves to be judged.

Good point.

If you’ve ever read the Pauline letters, you know that Paul was a judgmental son of a gun.

But he judged through love, with love, & in love.

I’m not at that stage yet, so I try to focus on the beam in my eye. But when I get to St Paul’s level, watch out.

 

[MarthaSo]

Of course! Thanks for sharing. I would have felt bad too that she was oblivious and thank God for your protection of that little boy!

 

[VanitasVanitatum]

“A word RIGHTLY SPOKEN is like apples of gold
in settings of silver”( Prov. 25:11)

I like it. Careful language that doesn’t distort the Truth can be a great means to reach someone.

 

[po18guy]

Perfect - especially in the anonymous world of the interwebz.

However, we can certainly admonish the sinner - that is a spiritual work of mercy that seems to have been tossed overboard in recent years. The “I’m OK, You’re OK”, live-and-let-live mindset has lead to this.

But, at the same time, we must not forget our Lord’s very sobering words as recorded by Saint Matthew:

Matthew 12:34-37

You brood of vipers! how can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

We all stand condemned by our words. Lord, have mercy!

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Jana that’s not always an easy one.
Something that’s physically dangerous to themselves and others? Yeah I’d say something.
A friend’s kid over your house who is saying things directly against the beliefs and values of DH and me?

It would depend on what was said, if my kid looked up to this kid or was easily led, if the remark was directed to me or was overheard.

Amd even then, you want to be careful how you address it.

A useful standby I learned was “I don’t know much about that point of view, can you tell me more about it?”
Teenagers will usually proceed to have so many holes in their argument that it’s fairly easy to interject with a “that’s an interesting point. How do you think it goes with this point?”
Basically to get them to think as well as emote.