Word to the Wise
Friday, September 13, 2019 - Friday in the 23th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 1:1-2, 12-14 and Luke 6:39-42]"Why do you notice the splinter in our 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,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own 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." [Luke]
SEPTEMBER 13 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, bishop and doctor of the church.
In the past, when this gospel passage appeared at daily Mass, I would look around the place where I was preaching to see if there was a small block of wood or plank that could be passed hand to hand in the congregation during the homily. It was a bit of a gimmick, but the image became a lot more real to the listeners! If my experience in the confessional is any indication, there are more beams than splinters in people's eyes. Or, at least, there are a lot of people who become aware of the beams and realize the necessity to remove them.
Occasionally I am asked to give a personal assessment of another individual. This most often occurs when I am asked to write a letter of recommendation for someone, especially a student applying for employment after graduation. I always try to say a prayer that my assessment will be fair to the student as well as to the employer. We are all "perfection impaired," and splinters do abound, but an occasional intervention can help a friend avoid a serious eye infection. And we can pray that our friends will not let us walk around with a beam sticking out of an eye! Otherwise, I offer the advice that a grade school child once said to me: "I shouldn't have said that about her. I don't know what's going on in her life." AMEN