Matthew 11:19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
But wisdom is vindicated by her works."
Do we pay a lot of attention to what others say about us? I would say that we do. Many of us want to know how we impress others, and what people say about us is important way for us to evaluate ourselves. But it is not the only way is it? This season of Advent will bring many families, even extended families together and we share pictures of each other and our holiday moments, but let's also not forget God. Do we allow ourselves a kindness and kindred spirit, or do we criticize ourselves and then judge those around us?
When we have faith, we have the assurance that our hopeful expectations will not be in vain, even if they turn out differently than we imagined. When we have faith we also realize there is more to our lives than what we see and hear. In this Gospel, people criticized Jesus and judged Him from their own limited perspectives. Let's be careful that we do not fall into that way of thinking and ask for the grace to meet people, our family members, friends and coworkers right where they are, not where we think they should be.
