Monday March 13
I have a friend who is a good human being and takes her faith very seriously. But there is a problem: she is constantly worried about the Last Judgment. One of her regular refrains is, “I just hope I go to heaven and do not end up in purgatory or hell.” And I sadly discern a genuine fear in her.
There is a simple means to avoid “ending up in purgatory or hell,” and today’s gospel offers it to us: Stop judging others, and there would not be a judgment for you either! How can God judge someone who refuses to judge others? And once we stop judging others, we can easily forgive their offenses and give of ourselves generously to them. God will then generously forgive our offenses and reward us with Himself.
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The Seat of Peter is the great symbol that dominates the apse of the Vatican Basilica. It is an artistic representation of the three images that Jesus evokes at Caesarea Philippi, by showing the mission of Peter and his successors. First, the foundation stone gives stability and safeguards the truth through time and history. Then the keys recall the mission of bringing Christians towards the gates of the kingdom of heaven. Finally, the power of binding and loosing, that is, the just judgment of what’s right and wrong and, above all, the great ministry of forgiveness.
