Matthew 7:1-5

Genesis 12:1-9

Psalm 33:12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22

Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,

and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother,

‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’

while the wooden beam is in your eye?

You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;

then you will see clearly

to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, help me to see myself with true humility. Help me to see my strengths and weaknesses. Help me to know how I have collaborated with your grace and when I have rejected your help.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Three Promises to Abram: The First Reading, taken from Genesis 12, is one of the most important passages in the entire Old Testament. It contains the key to understanding all the events in the Bible from Abraham to Jesus Christ. In sum, God made three promises to Abram. The first was that he would make Abram a great nation. This promise was elevated to a covenant in Genesis 15 and was initially fulfilled under Moses, who brought the nation of Israel out of slavery and to the border of the land of Canaan promised to Abram. The second promise was that Abram’s name would be great. This means that Abram would be the start of a royal dynasty. This promise was also raised to the level of a covenant in Genesis 17. The promise and covenant were initially fulfilled under King David, who was promised an everlasting kingdom. The third promise was that Abram, in some mysterious way, would be a blessing for all nations. This promise was elevated to a covenant in Genesis 22 and was fulfilled in the death of Jesus, who poured out from his side the blessing and forgiveness of the Holy Spirit upon all nations in the New Covenant.

2. The People of the Lord God: When we read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, we often hear how the Lord God chose the people of Israel to be his own. At first glance, this could seem like an arrogant claim. But when we discern how God works, we see that God chooses to work with the humble. God didn’t choose Abraham, Israel, Moses, or Mary because they were the strongest, the most intelligent, or the most powerful on earth. He chose them because they were lowly. Moses was deemed the humblest man on earth. Mary declared that she was the humble maidservant of the Lord. As we pray in today’s Psalm: The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness. The proud do not fear the Lord with filial fear or hope in the Lord. They are full of themselves, self-sufficient, self-righteous, and confident in their own powers. God doesn’t work with the proud of heart. He leaves them in their own hands to fall. By contrast, the humble, those whose souls wait for the Lord, who trust in him to defend them, are those with whom the Lord God can work and do great things.

3. Beams and Splinters: One of the most important lessons from the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ admonition, “Stop judging!” How our lives would be different if we truly practiced this! Jesus is not inviting us to be naïve or to turn a blind eye to evil. But he ardently wants us to recognize that we are not God and are not omniscient. We can barely judge our own hearts; how then can we pretend to judge rightly the hearts and innermost intentions of our brothers and sisters? Jesus wants us to look first to ourselves and remove any wooden beams that prevent us from seeing clearly. Only then are we able to discern the splinter or eyelash – the symbol of a small fault or imperfection – in our brother’s eye. You have probably experienced how good it is to receive counsel from a wise and holy person. Their counsel is truly valuable. They can see clearly with eyes of faith and spirit-infused wisdom. And with them, we can discern the path forward, having removed both beams and splinters.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the innocent one without any beams or splinters in your eye. All things are clear to you, and you know all things. You know my heart and what I need to do to love you and my brothers and sisters more perfectly. Guide me and teach me so that I may help those around me and in my life.

Living the Word of God: What massive wooden beams do I have in my eyes? Do I have a friend or spouse who can tell me in a couple of words what my dominant fault is? How can I work on it in the coming days, weeks, and months? Can I follow the recommendation of The Imitation of Christ to work on one virtue each year in the pursuit of holiness and perfection?