Ecclesiastes27:4-7;1Corinthians15:54-58;Luke6:39-45
‘If you want to change the world, start with yourself’ (Mahatma Gandhi)
Last Sunday’s gospel ended with the exhortation to show mercy, to pardon instead of judging and condemning. Today’s gospel passage continues in the same vein, with practical guidance on how to behave as disciples of Jesus. We are warned against being judgemental. ‘Why do you observe the splinter in the eye of your brother or sister and never notice the plank in your own…Take the plank out of your own eye first and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye’ (Lk 6:40,42). We are all inclined to be judgemental. We notice the faults of others more readily than we see or admit our own faults. We can be completely blind to failings in ourselves.
Socrates, once said, self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. We are so focused on the faults of others – those with whom we live and those for whom we work, the members of our community or family, our leaders – that we have little time or energy for the most fundamental and important exercise of all: truly looking at ourselves and correcting our own faults.
In today’s gospel Jesus challenges, us to put our own house in order before trying to reform others. As Pope Francis reminds us: ‘Before judging others, first look in the mirror at yourself. Look in the mirror, but not to put on makeup to hide the wrinkles. No! Look in the mirror to see yourself as you are.’
In 1987, Michael Jackson released the song, ‘Man in the Mirror’. The theme of the song is clear: If we want the world to be different, if we want it to be a better place, the change needs to start with ourselves – the person in the mirror.
When I change, other people are likely to change too. Even if they don’t, at least I will see them in a new light. I become more accepting of reality, and of the way people are. I refuse to be intimidated, or irritated, or resentful. I cast aside my mask and stop pretending. I feel free to just be myself and let other people be themselves.
Lent begins this coming Wednesday. It is a graced time, a time to do some spring cleaning in our lives and enjoy new life as a result, a time to leave the shackles of sin behind us and strive to grow Closer to the Lord. Lent invites me to begin the journey from illusion to reality, from self-deception to self-knowledge now. Recently a friend sent me the following prayer:
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know that person is ME.
Fr. Alex Osei
SSC-USA Spiritual Director