7:1-2: The injunction, "Judge not", has given rise to much confusion. People say: Don't be judgmental. We should distinguish carefully two things: 1) the objective moral rating of a thing in itself; 2) the interior dispositions of a person who does such a thing. There is no objection at all to stating the first, the objective rating, e.g., murder is wrong. What we should not do is to say with assurance that we know the interior of the one who did it. For in general we cannot know much of the person's interior, and cannot be sure. To say something is certain when we do not have adequate evidence is rash judgment.

This sin is often committed by those who charge Catholics with worshipping the Blessed Virgin. They say with determination, even when we say we do not worship: "O but you do." Again , we turn to the two check points: 1) To have a picture or statue and to burn a candle is not by nature worship. Cf. the eternal flame at the grave of JFK. 2) Can the objectors know our interior dispositions? Of course not. So they should be told, politely but firmly, that they are in violation of this command of Our Lord Himself!

Verse 2 adds another topic: we get back the measure we give. That is, if we are generous with others, we are apt to get generosity in return. If we are tight, we will get that treatment back. This of course do not always happen, but there is a tendency. And it is important to notice: If we are strict with others, then God will be strict with us. We cannot afford that!

That is similar to the lines of the Our Father:

"Forgive us our debts. as we forgive." There is a similar line in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 100a): Rabbi Eleazar said: In the kettle in which you have cooked others, you will be cooked in turn."

7:3-5: We easily become inconsistent, in seeing small faults in another while overlooking larger ones in ourselves. Speaking of a "beam" in the one's own eye is of course Semitic exaggeration. The name hypocrite is one Jesus used specially for the Pharisees.

7:6: Cast not your pearls before swine. Pearls were considered the most precious of all things, cf. Pliny Sr. Natural History 9. 34. 106. The original sense probably meant not to teach indisposed or even hostile people some points of doctrine. The Didache 9. 5. applied this to excluding nonchristians from receiving the Holy Eucharist. St. Cyprian -- very unecumenical of him! -- used this on Demetrianus (Against Demetrianus 1), who, said Cyprian, came not to him not to learn but to ridicule and charge Christians with the responsibility for recent calamities. The verse also perhaps was the basis of the Discipline of the Secret which held back certain doctrines until the candidates were ready for Baptism. In the persecution of Diocletian, many Christians died rather than hand over the Scriptures to the pagans.

7:7-11: On ask and you shall receive. This promises infallible efficacy of prayer, but certain conditions are required. First, we must not pray for things that would be harmful. God knows that if He would grant them, they would hurt us (in passing: notice here the universal belief that He acts this way, which requires that He know the futuribles, i. e, what would happen in certain conditions).

Second the promise really refers to things needed for salvation, for in comparison to salvation, other things are of no account. And it must be for our own salvation -- He is more than willing to grant it to others, but if they resist, He respects their freedom. Suppose there is to be a great sports event. The fans for both teams pray earnestly. Clearly, not both can win. St. Teresa of Avila, in Way of Perfection 1. 5 urged: "Let us not pray for worldly things, my sisters. It causes me to laugh, but yet it makes me sad, when I hear of the things which people come here to ask us to pray for. We are to ask His Majesty for money, and to give them incomes - I wish some of these people would ask God for the grace to enable them to scorn all such things... I do not myself believe God ever hears me when I pray for such things. The world is on fire [refers to Protestant revolt]... . They would raze His Church to the ground - and should we waste time on things which if God granted them, would perhaps bring one soul less to heaven?"

It is also necessary to pray with perseverance - God sometimes wants us to work harder. Cf. Luke 18:1-8 on the wicked judge who gave in to the persevering plea of the widow.

We must pray diligently, trying to avoid distractions. Distractions are inevitable, but if we try to eject them every time we notice them (for we may be in a reverie part of the time and not notice) we may please God more, than if all went easily, even with pleasure. It is not that difficulty is good in itself, but the strong effort made means our wills are more attached to His will.

We need to pray with confidence - if we show we do not trust Him, of course He will not hear our prayer. Our confidence is based on His goodness, and on His promise to listen.

May we pray for a miracle? Yes, if the need is great enough. But we cannot be sure of getting it, for the promise here does not cover extraordinary things. There are misguided souls who whip themselves into an emotional state, and think then they will get even a miracle, thinking of the faith that moves mountains. But that faith is a different kind of faith, a charismatic faith, that is, it is a special gift of God. If He gives it, it is then certain He will follow through. But it depends not on us, but on Him, when and whether He gives the faith that works miracles.

We mentioned above that the promise applies only to things for our own salvation - for if we pray for another, that one may resist. But an extraordinary grace can forestall or even cut through resistance without taking freedom altogether away. But precisely since this kind of grace is extraordinary, comparable to a miracle, it need extraordinary effort, that is, much prayer and penance. One needs as it were, to put an extraordinary weight into the scales to call for an extraordinary grace. For example, St. Augustine for much of his early life was hardened. It was only the heroic work of his Mother that rescued him. Otherwise he would be in hell now.

Why pray at all, since He knows what we need? Answer: 1) In His love of good order - explained by St. Thomas in Summa I. 19. 5. c - He is pleased to have one thing in place to provide a title or reason for giving the second - even though that does not move Him. So that is why He bound Himself to hear prayers, under the proper conditions explained above. 2) His decisions have taken into account in advance the prayers He knew would be made.

7:12: The golden rule. Since this involves love of neighbor at all points, and since that love is inseparably tied to love of God, if one fulfills this, he fulfills all else too - both the law and the prophets, i.e., all Scripture. Cf. St. Paul, Romans 13:9-10. A similar saying was known among the rabbis, cf. Talmud, Shabbat 31a. But it was only in the negative form,"Do not do to others what you would not like". Jesus made it also positive.

7:13-14: If we compare this passage with the parallel in Luke 13:22-27, Luke's version is much fuller, and includes a setting which makes clear the question is about final salvation. In Matthew that seems to be the case, but some have taken it to refer to entering the Church - speaking of the difficulties in involved. Because Luke's version is fuller, we will use it for our discussion. A person asks Jesus point-blank whether many or few are saved. (Here the word saved means reaching final salvation - often it means entering the Church)

It is important to know that that very question was much discussed among the Jews at that time. We gather this clearly from some of their intertestamental writings, that is, works that are not part of Scripture. The Fourth Book of Ezra, according to the opinion of the editor of that section, B. M. Metzger (In James H. Charlesworth, general editor, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Doubleday, 1983) comes from late first century A.D. In 8. 1-3: "The Most High made the world for the sake of the many, but the world to come for the sake of the few." In 8. 14-16: "There are more who perish than those who will be saved." This is the background of the thought in 7:46: "It would have been better if the earth had not produced Adam." The same thought occurs also in 2 Baruch 48. 42 (dated between 1st and 2nd decades of second century, A.D.) and elsewhere. These texts of course do not mean all rabbis held such ideas - there was no central teaching authority in Judaism. But their gloomy remarks applied to our race in general. As to the Jews, nearly all would be saved. So Talmud, Sanhedrin 1. 10 says: "All Israel has a part in the age to come." It does list a few exceptions to that for the very worst kinds of sinners.

It is against this background that we must look at the passages in Luke and probably also Matthew. First, is it inherently likely Jesus would reveal the truth on the matter? Hardly. To say most are saved could lead to laxity. To say most are lost could easily bring despair.

So, what He seems to mean is this: You people think you have it made because Abraham is your Father. But you do not. Do not rest on that, get going and work out your salvation.

Further, there were two Scriptural passages whose seeming sense led so many Fathers to take pessimistic view. One is our present passage about the narrow way, the other is that of the banquet in Mt 22:1-14 and Luke 14:15-24. The version in Matthew ends with "Many are called but few are chosen." Jesus seems to have in mind at last primarily the Jews, and not all persons. - The word "many" almost certainly reflects Hebrew rabbim, which means the all who are many. So it means all Jews were invited to the messianic kingdom - few were entering. So the path is narrow.

The Fathers of the Church generally took that parable to refer to both God's call to be part of the chosen People, and to refer to final salvation. That was unfortunate, for the two are quite different. One can be saved without formally entering the Church, and some who do formally enter will not be saved.

Are we obliged to accept the Patristic interpretation? No, for there is no sign they are passing on a teaching from the beginning. Rather, they are on their own, and telescope two things that greatly need to be kept distinct, as we said.

The old Congregation of the Index in more recent times condemned two writings. One by P. Gravina, which held that by far the greater number are saved, was condemned on May 22, 1772. However, some of his arguments were foolish and he used apocryphal revelations. The general idea of the greater number of persons saved was also held earlier by Venerable Joseph of St. Benedict. As part of the process, 40 theologians were appointed to examine his writings along with other doctors elsewhere. None objected to his thesis. On the other hand, on July 30, 1708 a work under the pen name of Amelincourt - actually it was written by Abbé Olivier Debors-Desdoires - which held that most persons are lost, was condemned.

From these opposite condemnations and the approval of Venerable Joseph we gather that the Church simply does not profess to know whether the saved are few or many. This also confirms our judgment that even though so many Fathers are pessimistic, their views do not derive from a tradition handed down from the beginning, but from a misinterpretation especially of the parable of the banquet.

7:15-20 warns of false prophets, whom we can tell by their fruits. False prophets were already known in the history of Israel, e.g., Zedecias and a whole band of prophets in 1 Kings 22:5-12. Also in Jeremiah 28:1-17. St. Paul in Acts 20:17-31 spoke to the presbyters of Ephesus (called episcopoi in 20:28 in 28-31 foretold false prophets would come even from those to whom he was speaking. Here in Matthew most likely Jesus speaks of the Pharisees, whom elsewhere he called "whitewashed sepulchers" and "blind guides," who put forth their own traditions even to the point of contradicting the law of God (Mk 7:9). In line with this the Mishna, Sanhedrin 10. 4 (11. 3?) said:" the decisions of the scribes are more obligatory than the Torah."

7:21-27: warns that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord is acceptable to Him. On the last day, on which it is implied He will be the eschatological judge, he will face those who claimed to have prophesied in His name, cast out demons, and worked miracles in His name. But then He will tell them: "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you."

To understand this, we need some framework. Grace is any gift from God to us. There are two great categories, sanctifying (which are aimed at the holiness of the recipient) and charismatic (which are not so aimed, but at some benefit for the community. Charismatic graces include ordinary gifts. e. g, being a good parent or teacher, and extraordinary things, which are miraculous. . Working miracles , casting out devils etc. are charismatic of the extraordinary kind. The principles God has chosen to follow in the two categories, sanctifying and charismatic are very different. In the sanctifying category, He gives without limit to all, for in accepting the infinite price of redemption, the Father bound Himself to unlimited forgiveness and grace. But in the extraordinary charismatic category, the principle is: The Spirit gives what He wants, where He wants. And so He may sometimes give miraculous gifts even to those who are not in the state of grace.

The man of wisdom accepts the doctrine of Christ. The torrential rain and storm stand for difficulties the good Christian may meet. But if he has built solidly, these things will not stop him.

In speaking of the picture of the house swept away, Jesus may have thought of the future ruin of the temple and Jerusalem.

7:28-29: At the end of this great discourse, the crowds were in admiration. and especially, He did not teach like the Scribes, who constantly tried to base a view on the statements of previous rabbis. In contrast, Jesus taught with authority, His own.