Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | USCCB
In
our gospel for today, our Lord continues his teaching that we should not be so
much worried about the sinfulness of other people we know but in how we are
living out our call to be His followers as Christians. We all know and deal
with people that appear to be not living out their lives in relationship with
God. Our Lord is teaching us that we should worry about our own relationship
with Him, whether it’s good or bad, rather than worrying about other people and
their relationship with God. We are all sinners. Worrying about other people
and their sins, while not worrying about our own sinfulness is being
hypocritical.
Our
Lord in today’s gospel asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's
eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” (Luke 6:41) We’re so
caught up in seeing the sinfulness in other people that we fail to see our own
sinfulness.
We
are called to live out our lives in loving service to God and to love our
neighbors (even those people we consider our enemies) as we love ourselves. In
yesterday’s gospel reading from Mass our Lord taught us, “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28) Pretty tough words from
our Lord, but words we are called, as Christians, to follow.
In
chapter 6 of the gospel of St. Luke, the Lord is teaching us to focus on the
love God has for everyone, including those people we may not like. Further he’s
calling us to a better relationship with Him through how we live out our lives
as followers of Jesus Christ. The whole message of Jesus Christ is that of
LOVE. Love not only for God, but also for us to love everyone in our lives,
whether we like them or not. We are called to be loving and forgiving with
everyone as we expect God to be loving and forgiving with us. It’s not easy to
love those we don’t like, but the call of Christ is to love them, regardless of
whether we like them or not.
Mother
Theresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying, “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love
those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to
relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love
into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”
Let’s bring that love
of God to all we meet today! This way people will know we are Christians by our
love.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteI understand & agree that we are called & even commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves & even to love our enemies. I am grateful that the love we are supposed to have & demonstrate is not a matter of feelings but an act of the will & by both wishing GOD'S best for them & doing good for them. We might feel "cold prickly feelings" instead of "warm, fuzzy, affection" toward them, but as long as we are wishing the best for them, praying for them (which could & probably should include a prayer for their conversion)& doing good for them we are on the right track.
I understand & agree that we are responsible for our own behavior, our own relationship with GOD & working out our own salvation in cooperation with the LORD. When we stand before the LORD we will have to render an account of what we said, did, thought. & failed to do. So we need to focus on avoiding sin, doing good, & growing in our Christian lives, our relationship with GOD, & the Church. We need to make sure we are saying & doing what is right rather than being distracted by & judging the behavior of others. Before we recognize a fault in another we need to work on correcting our own faults & especially take care not to be guilty of the same sin we observe in others.
We need to be careful to avoid judging others, even after we have passed our own inventory, because only GOD can read each person's heart, motives & the circumstances of each person's life.
Yet there is a need for us to be concerned about the spiritual well being of others & sometimes warn & lovingly exhort people. What about this???
Regarding exhorting people, I feel we are not called to do so. We are to share the truth of our faith with others, but it's not our place to tell other people how to live their lives in relationship with God. Let's worry about the plank in our eyes rather than the speck in the other person's eye.
DeleteFrom Arlene B. Muller
DeleteWe are not to be judgmental & we are not to point fingers at others. We are not to look down at others with a feeling of superiority. We are to focus on making sure we ourselves are living in right relationship with GOD & in obedience to His Commandments & the teaching of the Church, especially the two greatest Commandments of loving GOD with our whole heart, whole soul, whole mind & whole strength & our neighbors as ourselves, first & foremost..
Part of our love for our neighbor is loving concern for his/her spiritual well-being & eternal salvation. Loving our neighbor includes not wanting him/her to go to hell. Only GOD can judge each person, because only GOD knows each person's hearts & the circumstances of his/her life & thus the extent of his/her culpability in any & every sinful behavior. If someone in our lives is involved in what appears to be grave sin, the first thing we must do is pray for him/her. We also need to pray to discern what else GOD may be calling us to do to help this person be directed away from sin & back on the right path. GOD might be calling us to say something & if He does, we need to ask Him to give us the right words & to speak with him/her in a spirit not of condemnation
but in a spirit of humility & genuine loving concern.
So once we have removed the plank in our own eyes we might be called by GOD to see & help remove the speck in another person's eye, but this involves pray & careful discernment, genuine loving Christian concern & a humble (as opposed to judgmental) spirit.