Sep 13 - Gospel Reading - Luke 6:39-42 "Jesus told his disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. 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.” Reflect: It is impossible to guide someone to a destination if we do not know where it is ourselves. This is the principle that Jesus is trying to explain in today’s Gospel. Let us do all we can to learn about God’s will for us and the Church so that we will better guide other people in His ways. There is no point making a journey unless we are prepared for all possible eventualities. Can “a blind person guide a blind person”? The Gospel is subtle against hypocrisy. Many people blinded by wrong values and moral misconceptions tend to counsel others whom they think have gone astray. I remember before I took my sabbatical, I was feeling stressed, depressed and anxious because of my various roles of service: as parish priest to one of the most thickly populated and poorest districts in Manila; as director of a school with more than two thousand students; keeping a death-defying work and apostolate regimen; ministering to the Charismatics; taking charge of the Student Affairs Commision of the schools in the archdiocese and various social action programs for the poor. It came to a point when I just wanted to stop and rest to nourish my body, mind and soul in solitude. I knew that even if I continued to deliver homilies with fire and brimstone, I felt empty deep inside me. I was a blind man guiding other blind men. In the course of my sabbatical, I once cried while praying before the Blessed Sacrament, “Lord, I missed You!” I realized that I became too busy doing the work of God but I forgot to recognize the God of the work. Thus, the need to fill my heart again with His love and quench my thirst from the spring of living water that He offers. It washed the hypocrisy in me. Now, I can preach and counsel effectively because I went through the humbling process of seeing the speck in my own eyes. Only then was I able to rightfully help others remove the specks in their eyes. -Fr. Erick Y. Santos, OFS
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 05:38:22 +0000
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