REMOVE THE PLANK

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?” – Luke 6:42

Ten years ago, I had a severe eye irritation and went to see an ophthalmologist. I was prescribed different drops but nothing helped. It hurt every time I blinked. I went for a second opinion, and still, nothing. It only worsened, and I felt desperate.

Amidst piercing pain, I flew to a province for urgent meetings. I consulted a doctor there. When he checked my eyes, he said, “Your previous doctors missed this.” He did a simple procedure of inverting my eyelid and retrieved a small piece of chipped plywood. The irritations gradually subsided until my eye was restored.

That’s why I can relate with the Gospel about having a plank in your eye. I literally had one and didn’t even know! In life, we tend to fix ourselves apart from Jesus and go from “doctor to doctor” with no progress. Jesus is the “good doctor” who can take out the wood of our sinfulness. He knows our weaknesses. He knows about our pride and how we blame others for our failures.

Come to Him. Let Jesus heal you until you are fully restored—and see the beauty of life. Kirby S. Llaban (kirby@kirbyllaban.com)

Reflect: What is the plank in your own eye that needs to be removed?

Lord, help me to admit my mistakes and failures. Heal and restore my sight so I can see Your wisdom amidst my pain.

St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us.

Sirach 27:4-7

4 When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when he speaks. 5 As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in tribulation is the test of the just. 6 The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does a one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind. 7 Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested.

P S A L M

Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

R: Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

1 [2] It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, 2 [3] to proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night. (R) 12 [13] The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow. 13 [14] They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. (R) 14 [15] They shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy shall they be, 15 [16] declaring how just is the Lord, my rock, in whom there is no wrong. (R)

 

2nd READING

Paul makes fun of sin and death knowing that Jesus has defeated and made both powerless. The time will come when we die. We should not worry about this because we know that God will raise us from the dead as His disciples. Eternal life in heaven with Him motivates us to avoid the temptations of earthly pleasures.

1 Corinthians 15:54-58

54 Brothers and sisters: When this, which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility, and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

GOSPEL  

It is not up to us to judge our brother’s righteousness before God. He is a God of mercy and compassion, and far more generous in love than we will be. Our salvation is our first responsibility and when we are assured of that, we can worry about the salvation of others.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life.

Luke 6:39-45

39 Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? 42 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. 43 “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. 45 A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

think: “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:12)

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CLEAN HANDS AND FINGERS?

A famous saying goes this way: “God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we could listen twice as much as we speak.” The ancient Jews were right then and they were right for a long, long time. These days, however, it probably should be modified, for the fingers now are more powerful than the mouth. Fingers now do the “talking”—that is, all the social media posting, the trolling, and the fake news.

But the problem is not the mouth per se—or the fingers for that matter. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The heart stands for the centrality and totality of the person. And it is to the person that Sirach spoke: “Praise no one before he speaks.”

I guess we can all learn a thing or two from Sirach and from today’s Gospel passage: Praise no one before he posts in social media. Praise no one who jumps to conclusions and calls everybody all sorts of names before he or she gets the total picture.

It is open season for so-called “tards” of all colors and persuasions. Accusations are hurled from one camp to the other and back. The mouth is silent for the most part, but the heart is more than just ranting. It is raging mad, most times with the fingers on the keyboard, releasing all the negativities unhampered and untampered, courtesy of what psychologists call the phenomenon of disinhibition.

We are convicted today by both the words of Sirach and those of the Lord: “The fruit of the tree shows the care it has had; so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind.” “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit; nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.”

The Internet has made it easier for all of us to “go overboard” and be less charitable. Mind your words—and watch out for those fingers on the keyboard. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

------- REFLECTION QUESTIONS -------

Do you take your rants on social media? What can you do to temper that tendency after reading today’s words from Sirach and the Lord?

 

Remind me always, Lord, to check my heart before I speak—or post anything on social media. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________