Scripture:
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
Luke 6:39-42
Reflection:
St. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, confesses that he was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But he was mercifully treated because he acted in ignorance in his unbelief. The gospel reading follows Paul’s candid confession with Jesus’ description of a wooden beam in our own eye. It is not a grain of sand, a mere pebble or even a splinter. It is a wooden beam. Both of these blunt depictions call attention to behaviors that are colossal in their impact on others, but behaviors to which we ourselves are blinded. Paul excuses his behavior as acting out of ignorance. However, Jesus is more direct in describing such behavior as hypocritical: “You hypocrite”. To add insult to injury, Jesus describes the object in our brother’s eye as merely a splinter, not the wooden beam that blinds us to our own behavior. His words are unsettling. Of course, like so many of Jesus’ admonitions, they are meant to be.
This gospel has always challenged me to understand what Jesus is telling us. At first glance, it seems to call us to evaluate every aspect of our behavior to try to understand when, like Paul, we are blasphemers, persecutors, or arrogant people, etc. It also suggests that it is possible that our brother’s faults might be less onerous than our own, since he only has a splinter in his eye, whereas Jesus tells us that we have a wooden beam in our eye.
Perhaps this blunt approach is meant to extend beyond our personal evaluation of our behavior within the context of the gospel message. Might he be telling us that it is not enough to evaluate our behavior in the context of expected good behavior? We can ponder endlessly about the errors of our ways in various circumstances and resolve to remedy errant behaviors. But it that enough? Is our own self-evaluation of our behavior enough? Does it not come with inherent biases and excuses? Is it honest and objective?
What if we were to step outside of our personal perspective and try to comprehend how other people perceive our behavior? Looking at ourselves through the lenses of our spouses, our children, other relatives, friends and work associates might result in an entirely different perspective of who we are and how we impact those around us. That is certain to be a very difficult task. We might not like the answers that we get. However, perhaps that is the process required to remove the wooden beam that Jesus so eloquently posits in our eye. How do other people perceive us? Can we objectively ascertain that? For many reasons, we might be viewed in a less favorable light than we perceive ourselves. Even our best attempts to evaluate our own behavior would likely fall short of the depth of our shortcomings. Our own bias and prejudice would likely cause us to be less candid and truthful. We would then be acting out of ignorance as Paul confessed.
Lord, please give us grace to see ourselves as others see us and as you see us. We know that you are eternally merciful, but we need the grace, the wisdom and the clear vision to perceive our own behavioral shortcomings as others perceive them and as you perceive them.. Then guide us to a path of contrition so the wooden beam can be removed from our eye.
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.
Bill Berger has had a lifelong relationship with the Passionist Family. Bill and his wife, Linda, are currently leaders of the Community of Passionist Partners (CPPs) in Houston, Texas.