Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Last weekend Jesus taught us to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; …do not judge, and you will not be judged, do not condemn and you will not be condemned.” This weekend, he continues to invite us to check what we have deep inside ourselves before seeing what is in others: “Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”
It is easy to see another’s weaknesses and faults. Yes, it is easy and once we see it, we always have a tendency to comment, blame or judge on what we see. I would say that it’s a very human fault when we judge or comment on the weakness of others. Jesus, in his message, is very clear - He is warning us that we need to be careful because it is very easy for us to be hypocritical. He asks us to be humble to “take the log out of our own eyes, and then we will see clearly to take the speck out of our neighbour’s eye.”
Jesus invites us to take time, to slow down our thinking, to check what is in us first before commenting. It is good to help or correct others so that they may be better. However, how can we do this if we are not good enough or if we are at the same level as others?
I would like to share with you very good lessons that I have learned through English sayings: “Count to ten before speaking,” “Engage brain before starting mouth,” or one by the American humorist, Evan Esar, “Anger is a feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind.”
Each of us has a plank in our eyes which blinds us to our own faults. We can be blind to certain facts about ourselves which are perfectly clear to anyone who has ever lived in the same house with us or worked with us.
Jesus reminds us today that we must try to see and live clearly before helping others or it will be a case of “the blind leading the blind”. We live in a society where people seek the virtuous thing to do and give advice to anyone, but don’t necessarily want to check themselves first.
We, as Christians, need to spend time in prayer and reflection to determine the solid foundation on which to live and to be guided. We cannot just invent this on our own: we need help from God’s grace, and we also need help from dependable people and solid traditions.
Remember that Jesus teaches us not to judge people, but to judge actions: evil people do evil things, just as good people do good things. We can see it in the first reading from the Book of Sirach when we are invited to be the “sieve” of our words as well as the words of others. It teaches us to sift the words of others in order to separate the good from the evil. But Jesus teaches us that we should start by “sifting” our own words first.
I would like to offer you some questions to reflect deeper on this topic. Ask yourself:
Do I profit from the wisdom of others or their foolishness in facing the trial? Do I see wisdom or folly come out of my mouth as a result? Does this trial end up making others better, more noble, more holy? Does it make me better, more noble, more holy? Or does it help me identify the good and evil in my life and others’ lives?
Have a blessed weekend and be ready for Lent coming.
Fr. Louis Nguyen
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that we have been made in the image and likeness of God. Yes, indeed, we are created in God's image, we all need to be aware of that, and we should not forget that His very divine nature is all about self-giving, for God is love. Therefore, the more we develop our capacity for love, for authentic self-forgetful love, the more we will mature into what God created us to be.
In the Gospel, Jesus is very clear before sharing his message: “I say to you that listen.” He asks us be aware of the importance of what he is going to say: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you…” I would say that what Jesus says to us in the Gospel for this weekend is not theory but needs to be practiced in our daily life. He expects that we will treat the other, especially the enemy and stranger whom we might fear or distrust, as we want to be treated. Living up to this expectation will challenge us throughout our lives.
As Jesus describes the characteristics of a Christian, he indirectly gives us a description of himself. He shows us what kind of Lord he really is, the one who has no limits on his generosity, no limits on his love, the one who is always looking for more ways to shower us with his goodness. That's our Lord.
He teaches us how we should respond to being mistreated, a response helped by his grace and the Holy Spirit, rising above the fallen earthly attitude of just responding in kind. He teaches us to “Do to others as you would have them do to you”, but he qualifies that by saying that we should not only love those who love us, but also those who hate us.
If we are true Christians: treat others as we would like them to treat us, treat them in the same way as God has treated us. It is a request from the Lord. There is a story of Saint Mother Teresa which I read in the “Voice of the Saints” that I want to summarize and share with you for she learned this lesson perfectly.
Once she was staying with her community of sisters who were working in Australia. While she was there, she visited an elderly man who lived in total isolation, ignored by everyone. His house was disorderly and dirty. She told him, "Please allow me to clean your house, wash your clothes and make your bed." He answered: "I'm OK like this. Let it be." She said, "You will be still better if you allow me to do it" and finally he agreed. So she was able to clean his house and wash his clothes.
While she was cleaning, she discovered a beautiful lamp, covered with dust. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. So she said to the man: "Don't you light that lamp? Don't you ever use it?" He answered, "No. No one comes to see me. I have no need to light it. Who would I do it for?" Mother Theresa asked, "Would you light it every night if the sisters came?" He replied, "Of course". And from that day on, the sisters committed themselves to visit him every evening.
Two years later, when Mother Teresa had completely forgotten about that man, she received a message from him, passed to her by other sisters: "Tell her that the light she lit in my life continues to shine still." (Voices of the Saints, Bert Ghezzi)
That is what it means to be a true Christian: to give, to forgive, to bless, to stop judging, to stop condemning, to stop complaining, and to start lighting lamps... In other words, to be like Christ. And that's what brings happiness to our lives, to others and to the world.
“Do not judge, do not condemn but forgive, give and do to others as you would have them do to you.”. This is the golden rule that Jesus asks of us, as his followers, for through baptism, we became members of the body of Christ, brothers and sisters of the Lord. In our journey through life we either stay faithful to that vocation and identity, or abandon it.
I wish all of you a blessed long weekend, and enjoy a good time with family when we celebrate Family Day.
God bless you all.