There's a mysteriously paradoxical kind of struggle that some of us Christians undergo. We easily criticize and judge others even while we may struggle with particular areas of weakness and sinfulness ourselves. In fact, sometimes the very sins that we condemn in others are the very ones we have difficulty with ourselves.

Our readings show us a possible way out of this difficulty. Be compassionate, says Jesus in the gospel, even as Daniel prays a prayer of contrition on behalf of his people in the first reading. Could there be some close connection between compassion and contrition? And could deeper reflection on this connection help to free us from our curious affliction? Could it be that we only learn compassion for others to the extent that we are able to admit our own sins to God, as Daniel does, and so experience God's deep and unfailing compassion for us? Conversely, could it be that it is only insofar as we are merciful to others that we are able to experience God's mercy? And doesn't the ability to do all this depend on our realizing that we are somehow connected to those whom we judge - that we are somehow implicated in their sins, and they in ours? As St. Philip Neri is reputed to have said upon encountering a known sinner: there but for the grace of God goes Philip.