Daily Gospel Reflection

Check Your Judgment

Welcome back to Radical & Relevant, where each day we're exploring the genius of the life and teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of the Day. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of John chapter 1 verses 45-51. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote: "Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathaniel said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Nathaniel said to him, 'How do you know me?' And Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." And Nathaniel answered him, "Rabbi, you are indeed the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." And Jesus answered him, "Because I said you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

What jumped out at you today? The line that jumped out at me was Nathaniel saying to Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" This slight, this putting down, this questioning is, hey, it's as old as Jesus. It's as old as biblical times. And it exists in our lives. It exists in our society in so many ways. Somebody will be doing something and somebody will say, "Well, why is he doing that?" Or, "Why is she doing that? What are her credentials?" Or, "Where is her degree from?" And she might say, "Well, my degree is from here." And then they'll put down where her degree is from as if it's a second-rate degree because it doesn't come from some other place. And so this thing, this putting down, this questioning of people that isn't based on the work they are doing, good or bad, but is based on where they come from, or how they dress, or where their degree is from, it's been part of humanity for a long, long, long time. And so the question today is, how are we judging people? And why are we judging people? Are we judging people because of where they live or what sort of car they drive or where they went to college? And if we are looking at people's lives and judging their lives, why aren't we judging them by the good fruit that is being born in their life? Have an amazing day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.