Word to the Wise
Friday, September 10, 2021 - 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 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,' 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]
Scripture scholars have long believed that the evangelists Luke and Matthew used the Gospel According to Mark plus a collection of "sayings" of Jesus that they call "the Q document," (The "Q" stands for the German word meaning "source.") in composing their accounts of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. They also may have had access to traditions that the other evangelists did not have, e.g. certain parables in Luke don't appear in the other gospels (Prodigal Son, Good Samaritan, etc.).The splinter/beam image in today's passage appears in both Luke and Matthew, but not in Mark. So it came from a different source.
In today's gospel passage, we have what is called "the sermon on the plain." (Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount). It contains a number of teachings of Jesus that appear in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, plus some twists of its own - four beatitudes plus four woes. (Read Luke 6:17-49)
The "beam" can be like the image we often use of a "filter" through which we see other people. This "filter" can lead us to make judgments about others without realizing that the "splinter" we see in another's eye is really the splinter on the beam in our own eye. It can be a humbling experience to confront those "filters" that we have. Some of them are cultural, others come from our upbringing. Jesus challenges us to know ourselves and know those "filters" that we use. The Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain give us good "examinations of conscience" to help us. AMEN