Jesus gave us clear rules to follow in order to avoid hypocrisy: do not judge others, lest we be judged in the same way; and when we are tempted to do so, it is better to look in the mirror first, not to hide behind make-up, but to see ourselves as we really are. Recalling that the only true judgement is that of God with his mercy, Pope Francis — in the Mass celebrated on Monday morning, 20 June, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta — recommended not giving in to the temptation to put ourselves in the Lord's place, doubting his word.
"Jesus speaks to people and teaches them many things about prayer, about riches, about vain concerns, many things, about how his disciples should behave," Francis said. And so "he comes to this passage of the Gospel on judgement," proposed by the liturgy (Matthew 7:1-5). It is a passage in which "the Lord is very concrete." In fact, if "sometimes the Lord tells us a parable to make us understand, here it is: 'ta, ta, ta': direct, because judgement is something only he can do."
"It begins" with a clear word from Jesus: "Do not judge, so that you will not be judged." Therefore, "if you do not want to be judged, do not judge others: 'tac, tac', clear". And the Lord "goes one step further", indicating precisely the criterion of measure: "For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you".
"All of us want, on the day of judgement, for the Lord to look upon us with kindness, for the Lord to forget the many bad things we have done in our lives," said Francis. And "this is right, because we are children, and a child always expects this from his father." But "if you continually judge others, you will be judged by the same measure: this is clear."
"First, the commandment, the fact: 'Do not judge, so that you will not be judged,'" the Pope reiterated, adding: "Second, the measure will be the same as you use for your brothers and sisters." And then "the third step: look in the mirror, but not to put on make-up so that your wrinkles cannot be seen; no, no, no, that is not the advice!" Rather, Francis suggested, "look in the mirror to see yourself as you are." Jesus' words are clear: "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is a log in your own eye?"
"How does the Lord describe us," asked the Pontiff, "when we do this? With one word: 'Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.'" In reality, the Lord's reaction should not surprise us, for he "becomes angry; he is very strong, and he even seems to insult us: he calls those who judge others 'hypocrites'.
The reason is that "those who judge," explained the Pope, "put themselves in God's place, make themselves God and doubt God's word." It is precisely "what the serpent convinced our fathers to do: 'No, no, God is a liar, if you eat this, you will be like him'. And they wanted to put themselves in God's place."
For this reason, the Pope insisted, "it is so ugly to judge: judgement belongs to God alone, to him alone!" Rather, it is up to us to "love, understand, pray for others when we see things that are not good," and if necessary, "even speak to them" to warn them if something does not seem to be going right. In any case, "never judge, never," because "if we judge, it is hypocrisy."
After all, Francis said, "when we judge, we put ourselves in God's place, that is true, but our judgement is a poor judgement: it can never, ever be a true judgement." Because, in fact, "true judgement is that which God gives." And "why can't ours be like God's? Because God is almighty and we are not? No, because our judgement lacks mercy." And "when God judges, he judges with mercy."
In conclusion, the Pope suggested that we think "today about what the Lord tells us: do not judge, so as not to be judged; the measure with which we judge will be the same that will be used with us; and thirdly, let us look in the mirror before judging." And so when we feel like saying, "she does this, he does that," it is better to look in the mirror before speaking. Otherwise, "I will be a hypocrite," Francis repeated, "because I am putting myself in God's place." And in any case, "my judgment is a poor judgment: it lacks something very important that God's judgment has, it lacks mercy." The Pope expressed his hope that the Lord "will help us to understand these things well."
[Pope Francis, homily at St. Martha's, in L'Osservatore Romano, 20 June 2016]