Judgement: the darkness suppressing the light!

Conversion – from darkness to light

THE WORD IN LENT 2026 – SARTURDAY FOURTH WEEK

March 21 – Jeremiah 11: 18-20; John 7: 40-52

Conversion, as the journey from darkness to light, requires that we choose light, and not the prevalent tendency of judgementalism. Yesterday, the Word warned us on judging, judging wrongly and judging maliciously. Today it goes further to talk to us about judging unjustly and a worser attitude.

Judging unjustly is not just a wrong judgement, it is a malicious judgement, and done with a specific agenda. It is not just a mistake or a circumstantial happening. It is a strategized, well planned and executed. This happens today at many levels – socio political, economic, national, international and global.

Jeremiah, in the first reading today, is treated like a national enemy…and they judge him unworthy of living and they decide to eliminate him. The reason being, he spoke things that they did not want to hear. He criticised them for the growing callousness towards good and virtue.

Jesus is rejected, in the Gospel today, just because he does not come from where they want, rather he comes from where they did not expect him to come from. How many injustices are carried out today because of where one comes from, from his origin and his native particulars… race, region, colour, caste and what not…

The question today is: are these judgements merely wrong or malicious? Aren’t they unjust, strategic and well-orchestrated? Are we not plotting against God, pitching against the humanity that God wanted? At this level, is not this judgement, apart from missing the truth, trying to suffocate it, suppress it?

There is a worser attitude to these unjust judgements – it is justifying these unjust judgements. We find reasons and logic to all kinds of injustice that we promote or sustain… this is indeed a suppression of light. Light comes through any darkness to make things seen… bringing to the fore our mistakes and our lacks. If we are humble and sincere, we will immediately see it and admit that light to take us towards conversion.

However, when darkness takes the upper hand, there is no possibility for conversion, because darkness suppresses the light that struggles to come through. Judgement of the other is one such darkness to beware.