St. John Chrysostom, bishop  & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1 Timothy 1: 1-2, 12-14

 From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus by a command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

 to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace. I give thanks to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is my strength, who has considered me trust­worthy and appointed me to his service,  although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a fanatical enemy.

How­ever he took mercy on me because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith;  and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 6: 39-42

And Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch.  A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master.  So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye while you have a log in your eye and are not conscious of it?  How can you say to your neighbor: ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye.

 

Reflection gospel：

“YOU WILL SEE CLEARLY ENOUGH.”

In one instance or another we have already come across an acquaintance, a friend, or a colleague, whom we have greeted nicely, but replied rather in a harsh, sarcastic manner. And we wonder why. Unless she/he tells us we would not exactly know.

We could just guess. In this kind of situation, we might opt to adopt God’s way of dealing with us: knowing our deepest thoughts and feelings, God, nevertheless, treats us with generosity, goodness, understanding and compassion. We need them in our day-to-day interaction with others.

By trying to understand the person/the situation, we put ourselves in a position where we generously and compassionately give. By being understanding, we put ourselves in her/his own situation, thus seeing things from the other’s perspective. When we understand and consider where the person is coming from, we are more inclined to respond in love, mercy and tenderness.

We prevent ourselves from passing inaccurate judgment(s). But here judging should not be construed as ignoring wrong or injustices committed. It is simply putting ourselves in her/his own shoes so that we can respond lovingly. That is why it helps to keep in mind that we are not gifted the ability to read thoroughly the content of the human heart, whereas Jesus knows fully well what is going on within us.