In my last post I wrote how I had done something I never had before, gave money to a street person. I wrote how it reminded me of Matthew 25: 44 – 46 and “What you did for the least…” I have been reflecting even more on this over the last couple of days.
As I said I never did this before, mostly because I figured either the person panhandling was either scamming people or they were going to use the money for something they shouldn’t. The title of the post “There but for the grace of God” was intended as a reminder for me that this could be very well be me, and for a time I was close to this. What I have been thinking abut since then is who am I to judge these people? If it were me who was begging, would I want to be judged? Someone driving by me standing on the corner doesn’t know my story, they don’t know why I would be forced to panhandle, they would make assumptions, just like I have always done.
Too often we are quick to judge, whether it is the panhandler on the corner or the new person at our workplace, we make assumptions based on who knows what. It might be their looks, their clothes, the way they talk, the color of their skin, any number of things we judge someone on, all of which could be wrong. And by doing this, we forget what Jesus said:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” – Matthew 7:1
I don’t know what this person did with the money, it isn’t important. Maybe he bought a bottle, or maybe he bought a meal or maybe he used it to help him out of whatever problem he has gotten himself into. Certainly I hope he made a good decision and used it wisely, but then, who am I to judge?
The Wayward Catholic 