Let us flee the boasting of the Pharisee,
and learn the humility of the Publican, while crying
out unto the Savior with groanings: Be gracious unto
us, O Thou Who alone dost readily forgive.
Kontakion of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
Every year, the Holy Church prepares us for the
season of Great Lent with a Pre-Lenten
period of three weeks, beginning with the Sunday
of the Publican and the Pharisee,
which this year falls on February 4/17.
Each of the Sunday Gospel readings during this
time teaches us about the nature of true
repentance. The Gospel reading of the Publican
and the Pharisee lays
as the foundation of repentance the virtue of humility, which is impossible
without acquiring the virtue of non-judgment.
It is always necessary, of course, to discriminate
between good and evil, to know what is right
and what is wrong. Non-judgment does not
mean approving
evil or equating evil with good. This is demonic "non-judgment." Rather,
non-judgment means seeing and mourning our own sins, while refusing to condemn
or talk about the shortcomings of our neighbors, the specific, real people
in our daily lives: family, church, work, community.
The news and entertainment media have created
a frenzied atmosphere of condemnation and
resentment through "reality" television shows, TV talk shows with
their insufferably self-righteous "hosts" who make millions by dragging
other people's family problems onstage and "solving" them, sensationalistic
news reporting, and the political radio talk shows and internet blogsphere, which
are a spiritual cesspool of anger, condemnation, foul language, and insults.
If our mind is filled with this stuff, it is bound to carry over these attitudes
and behavior into daily life. A necessary first step in acquiring non-judgment
is to "unplug" ourselves from this crazy artificial universe; unless
we do this, we will never see other people or ourselves as we really are.
A second step towards non-judgment is to set
aside quiet time to pray and beg God to help
us see our own sins. St. Isaac the Syrian
says that it
is a greater
miracle to see your sins than to raise the dead. So…work a miracle today!
If you are mourning over your own sins, you won't have interest or energy to
get angry about or enjoy talking about others' sins.
A third step is to refuse to join in idle conversation
about other people, which leads to criticism
and then judgment about 99% of the time.
Even
at work, someone
who never puts down his colleagues is admired. How much more should
we practice this at home and at Church!
Let us begin today to practice saving non-judgment!
Refusing to Judge our Neighbor
is Necessary for Our Salvation
…
the judgment of our neighbors belongs solely
to the Lord God, while for us it would be more
proper and better to maintain silence when we
see the falls of brethren, and to flee frivolous
gatherings. The days of our lives are not so
many; time flies, and eternity inevitably come
nearer to us with each passing hour. And when
will we succeed in repenting of our own lawlessness?
O friends, look into your own souls, "for
if anyone could see his own vices accurately
without the veil of self-love, he would worry
about no one else in this life, considering that
he would not have time enough for mourning for
himself, even though he were to live a hundred
years, and even though he were to see a whole
River Jordan of tears streaming from his eyes.
I have observed such mourning and I did not find
in it even a trace of calumny or criticism" (St.
John of the Ladder, Step 10:10).
To be unaware of one's own sins, but not
those of others is the result of diabolic
temptation
and suggestion, for in the words of Climacus, "The demons, murderers
as they are, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this, they get us to pass
judgment on those who are sinning, so that they may defile us with the stain
which we ourselves are condemning in another" (Step 10:11). Truly it is
sometimes better to sin than to judge the sinner, for sin humbles the soul,
while criticism makes one like unto the devil.
From "Not Judging is Salvation Without Effort" by Protopriest Valery
Lukianov