Goodness
From One’s Heart
Lk
6: 39 – 45
8th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Introduction
Our reading today highlights some of Jesus’ sayings about
judging others and the cultivation of one’s inner spirit. Together, these
sayings serve as important guides for our life as disciples of Jesus.
The
Gospel
Our reading today teaches two important aspects of our life
as followers of Jesus. The first one is about judging others. Jesus tells his
disciples: “ Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a
pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every
disciple will be like his teacher.”
Then Jesus continues: “ Why do you notice the splinter in
your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can
you say to your brother: Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye? You
hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see
clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye. “
This first part which deals with the subject about judging
others goes straight to the point: we do
not see clearly when we judge others; in
fact, we become blind. This is why Jesus
begins by describing how the blind lead the blind. In Jesus’ mind, people who
judge others are blind and that their judgments about others only serve to
mislead people including themselves.
Because judgmental people are blind, they have this
difficulty of seeing their own faults. This inability to see their own faults
makes them incapable of owning and acknowledging their shortcomings. Ironically,
while they can’t see their own faults, they seem to have a keen perception of
others’ faults.
Being blind to one’s own faults while at the same time remaining
perceptive of others’ faults, gives judgmental persons a disproportionate and
distorted perspective of the world. Their inability to see the “wooden beam” in
their own eye while seeing the “splinter” in their brother’s eye paints a
ridiculous picture of how disproportionate and distorted their perspectives can
be.
To these people, Jesus has this advise: “ Remove the wooden
beam from your eye first, then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in
your brother’s eye.” A clear vision is the reward for those who acknowledge
their faults first.
And what would be the consequences when judgmental people
lead other people? Jesus describes the outcome by asking a question: “ Will
not both fall into the pit?”
The second part of this gospel reading is about the
cultivation of one’s inner spirit. Jesus says: “ A good tree does not bear
rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known
by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thorn bushes, nor do they
gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his
heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. “
In saying this, Jesus tells us that all good things start
from the store of goodness in one’s heart. This goodness which starts and is
cultivated from the heart produces good. Similarly, all evil things start and
proceed from the store of evil in one’s heart which consequently produces evil.
For Jesus, everything starts from the heart. Even the mouth speaks what is
inside one’s own heart.
Reflection
There is a common tendency for us all to see the faults of
others. And what usually follows after seeing these faults is the judgment we
give to the people who have them. While this seems to be quite normal for many,
Jesus tells us today, that such behavior doesn’t help us grow.
In fact, Jesus says, this behavior makes us blind. Our
tendency to judge people makes us blind because being judgmental makes us blind
to our own faults. Judgmental people normally have an acute sense of finding
what is wrong with others but are themselves unaware of their own faults. This
is why, Jesus says, judgmental people are blind.
What is worse with judgmental people is that they are able
to make other people believe in their judgments and opinions. When this
happens, people who believe in them also become blind themselves because they
too become keenly aware of other’s faults while remaining unaware of their own.
It is not surprising at all that judgmental people have
this ability to persuade and influence other people and turn them judgmental
themselves. When this happens, then what Jesus refers to as the “blind leading
the blind” becomes a reality.
Jesus has harsh words for judgmental people. He not only
calls them blind, he also calls them hypocrites! To these people Jesus has this
advice: Look first at yourself, and look at your own faults first so that you
can see clearly. Jesus tells us that our ability to look at ourselves and
examine ourselves well will go a long way in making us see the world much better.
Let us stop judging others because Jesus himself did not come to judge the
world but to save it.
The second part of Jesus’ teaching has similar overtones
with the first part. If Jesus wants us to look at ourselves first before we
look at others, it is because he wants us to look deep inside our hearts first.
For Jesus, it is in the heart where both good and evil spring up.
If we cultivate in our hearts that which is right, good and
perfect, then our lives will manifest this goodness outwardly. This is why
Jesus says that a good tree bears good fruit and cannot bear bad fruit. What is
truly good from the inside will certainly manifest itself outwardly in a good
way. When we see something good in the
world, this goodness comes from people whose hearts have cultivated what is
truly good in their hearts.
On the other hand, if we allow evil to take hold of our
hearts, this will show itself and manifest itself outwardly also through the evil
that we do.
This gospel then urges us to take a good look at our
hearts. The gospel dissuades us at
looking at others’ faults. Instead, it encourages us to look deep inside of us
to become aware of our own faults.
By cultivating this constant inward movement of self
awareness, we are able to cultivate and nurture an inner spirit and a heart that
is attuned to what is good and perfect. Then, as Jesus says, this goodness
which comes from one’s heart, will manifest itself outwardly through what we
do.
Prayer
Dear Lord, it is true that I am judgmental. I am quick to
see the faults of others and make immediate judgments about them. When,
however, other people tell me my faults and judge me, I don’t like it. It just
shows that I can’t accept what they say of me because I have become blind to my
own faults.
I have spent so much time looking at the faults of others
without even taking the time to examine myself and take a good look at my own shortcomings.
Forgive me Lord. I have been blind. Help me see so that I can cultivate what is
truly good in my heart. Amen.
“Do not speak evil
against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another
or judges another speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you
judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. “ – James 4: 11
For reflections like this,
go to my blog: thevineyardlaborer.blogspot.com
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