[1]Bishop Octavio Cisneros
of the Diocese of Brooklyn wrote, “To be an icon
of Jesus the Servant, you must begin with your heart. In other words, if you are to be an icon of anything,
you must look at yourself first and examine what you see, what others
see, and what you yourself know you should look like in the light of
the Gospel and God’s gift of grace.” All too often we fail to see ourselves as
others see us, and we simply call this phenomenon our blind spots.
Paul is recalling how he “was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an
arrogant man.” (1Tm 1:13) In his judgement,
his understanding of “The Law” was right and those of “The Way” he judged to be a threat. We know how God got his attention, to
reveal Paul’s blind spot, and how he was mercifully treated, as he “acted out of ignorance,” by the abundant
grace of Our Lord.
Jesus’
parable uses three analogies to explain why a fellow sinner ought not judge.
A sinner who judges another sinner:
- is like a blind person trying to guide another blind person; the consequence is they will not be able to avoid falling into a pit.
- is like someone who is ignorant of a subject, yet tries to teach it to someone else. Unfortunately, neither will become the wise.
- resembles someone with a wooden beam in their own eye, yet tries to remove a splinter from someone else’s eye. With our own vision greatly impaired, will we not risk damaging the other person, in our blindness and ignorance.
Jesus wants us to
recognize what blind spots can do to our spiritual vision. The worst kind of spiritual blindness is a judgmental spirit.
Judging others reinforces prejudice, discrimination, and division. Jesus knows that
judging others leads us to elevate good concepts, rules, and standards (even religion) above any consideration for human needs and circumstances.[2] All to often we just don’t
know what we don’t know about the others life and circumstances.
“Unless we learn to face our own shadows, we will continue to
see them in others, because the world outside us is only a reflection of the
world inside us.” ~Unknown When we decide who is
prejudiced or being unjust, we need to take an honest look at our own behavior and
open our hearts in compassion and understanding.
Jesus prayed to his Father, in the Gospel of John, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.” (Jn 17:15, 17) May our prayer, at this Mass, be, that we may be healed of our own blind spots, so we are able to freely help others to see with the eyes of Christ.
[1] Scripture (NABRE), Colossians 2:6-15; Luke 6:12-19
[2] Weekday HomilyHelps Exegesis by Dr. Terrance
Callan and Homily Suggestion by Jeanne Hunt.
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