Friday

Judge Not? Is that Really What we Are to Do?

By Judith Costello

The priest who gave a Mission talk at our church talked about the whole issue of "judgment." It was helpful to me as I read the online discussions among Catholics about Fr. Guarnizo from Washington, DC. He’s the one who withheld communion from a Buddhist lesbian activist. The woman introduced herself and her lover to the priest before Mass, making their status clear. The priest explained to the entire congregation the conditions for reception of communion at a funeral Mass and apparently he had something of a conversation with this woman as well while they were in the sacristy. But the woman still felt she “deserved” to receive the Eucharist. When the priest quietly refused it, she went to a different line and received communion anyway. Then she went to the press to make life difficult for this priest.

Many of these kinds of situations remind me of family life. God gives us families as a microcosm of society so we can learn to make judgment calls like this priest was forced to make.

I remember a situation that happened to me. I was living in sin with a boyfriend, and I brought him home to meet Mom. Should she have said, “Well it’s not my job to judge. The Bible says ‘judge not, lest you be judged.’ So I’ll just give you one bedroom since that’s what you choose.” Would that have been the right the thing to do?

Well my mom didn’t think so. She said, “You may be living together, but not in my house. I won’t have that here. Here are two bedrooms. I expect you to sleep in your respective bedrooms alone.” She couldn’t change my lifestyle outside of her house. About that she was praying hard. But she certainly had a moral obligation to hold me accountable while in her house.

We can't condemn the souls of others. The state of their relationship with God is none of our business. That’s what the Bible passage means. But that is totally different from telling a child, "Don't do that. And what you just did was wrong." We as Catholic parents are morally obligated to tell our children they are living in a state of sin if they move in with a partner.

We should be gentle. We should accompany any correction with lots of prayer. God will move the soul to conversion. But we are called to be a light to the world, a voice for Truth.

As a priest, Father had a moral obligation to point out to this woman that she couldn't receive communion since she was introducing him to her active lifestyle without contrition. Had she not announced this to him, he says he would “assume good faith when a Catholic presents himself (herself) for communion; like most priests I am not at all eager to withhold communion.” But given that she announced her lifestyle and was not a member of the parish, Father was acting as any priest should. And as any "parent" should.

Too many of us say, "Well my friend is going in for an abortion, but I don't want to judge her. So I’m not going to say anything." Certainly if we hear about this after the fact, we can’t say, “You’re a sinner.” But we could say, “If you need someone to talk to about having made that decision, I’m happy to talk. I can also refer you to someone for counseling.”

We don't judge the state of her soul, but we do point out the immoral. To not act, when we have the opportunity, when a door is opened for conversation—that is sinful.

Sadly, we live in wishy-washy times. According to the world, there is only "my truth and your truth." I remember hearing that in school. It was what I believed back when I was living with that fellow I brought home to Mom. I wanted to define “right and wrong” for myself.

But my mother did the Right thing. Her ultimatum, “If you want one bed, you can’t sleep here,” made me embarrassed. But it was the challenge I needed to hear. And her constant prayers were what turned my life around.

We have an obligation to speak on behalf of God’s law within our circles of influence. And that will make a difference. Let’s pray for Fr. Guarnizo and all those involved in that situation. Father has been removed from priestly duties in response to his action. From the information available, that seems very wrong. So we will pray for our whole Church that our bishops and Cardinals will stand up against the pressures of the world that would re-define family.

Let us pray…and speak out.

This is a link to Fr. Guarnizo’s explanation of what happened: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/father-marcel-guarnizo-i-did-only-thing-faithful-catholic-priest-could-do

1 comment:

  1. Paul Dion, STL4:32 PM

    There are some situations in life that call our moral values into play. When that happens,we make judgment calls and proceed. We strive to make these judgement calls as objective as possible. We cannot always succeed because human behavior is a result of a string of judgments that we make for our personal good and for the common good. In Catholic morality, the common good trumps the personal good. That is because it is from personal good that the foundation of the common good is constructed. Thus, the faithful make judgment calls all the time to guide themselves toward heaven. We do not judge the person, but we can and must judge the behavior. When the behavior goes against the Code of God, Mamas and Papas are conscience bound to act in the proper way. Whether or not Johnny and/or Susie like it. The fall out can hurt. I know. It came down on my father and mother.

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