Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Flor Lagura SVD – New Jersey, USA
Saturday 4th Week of Lent
Several centuries before Christ, Roman jurisprudence, when dealing with controversies regarding persons or issues, wisely stated, “Let the other party also be heard” (Audiatur et altera pars).
Thus, when the leading religious figures in Israel were one in condemning the upstart carpenter from Nazareth, Nicodemus—he who had listened to Jesus previously—mustered enough courage to stand up and face his peers in the Sanhedrin (the highest religious body in Israel) wisely warning them, “But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgment on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?” For his audacity to plead for fairness, Nicodemus got brazenly brand a Galelian, a term of derision for the Jerusalem elite.
Because of the tendency to rush to judgment when hearts overrule heads, when emotions and passions negate reason, when biases predominate, Jesuschimself counsels, “Do not judge lest you also be judged.” (Mathew 7,1) Elsewhere he says, “Why do you see the mote in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7,3)
It is difficult to judge others, for we just cannot see all the dimensions of others’ actions, much less know who and what background they come from. The human person will always remain a mystery, although on a much lesser scale than the mystery that is God.
Thus, it is wise to also hear about the case from the other party. Otherwise, it would be prudent to refrain from judging others. When things go against us in the court of fallible humanity, it is an act of faith to let ourselves humbly yet confidently fall into the hands of the living God. After all, He and only He is infallible, yet full of mercy.
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