25-Jun-18

Gospel MT 7:1-5
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,'
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
Reflection:
"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,'
while the wooden beam is in your eye?"
Growing up we didn't study the Bible. Our parents were our first teachers of biblical wisdom.
With four brothers and four sisters sitting around the dinner table, it was not unusual for one of us to have something negative to say about one another.
I can almost hear my mother's voice: "Alright now, knock it off. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. You'd be better off cleaning your own backyard rather than looking over the fence at your neighbor's mess."
"You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
Hopefully, through "self"-examination and prayer, I will discover my own faults and failings and be able to correct them. For it's is only by having the courage to share how I have stumbled and fallen from grace that others may take heart and raise themselves up.
"Let no one ever come to you without feeling better and happier
when they leave." Mother Teresa