Monday of the 12th
Week in Ordinary Time
June 22, 2015 8:30am
I want to do a little ruminating
on today’s gospel.
Webster’s Dictionary says the
word ruminate means to muse, to chew,
or to meditate on something.
So I’m going to do something like
that – ruminate on the passage.
The one statement framed
positively in this passage is: remove the beam from your own eye first.
Why does Jesus says this?
Does he really think I have a
beam in my eye and everybody else only has splinters?
I don’t think that’s it.
I think the issue is that I’ve
got my stuff, my imperfections and sinfulness just like anyone else.
And I’ve go to get in touch with,
and that’s important, get in touch with my stuff and deal with it too.
If I just pick at your stuff,
I’ll never deal with my stuff.
And beyond that, my stuff will be
like a beam because I will not even be seeing you or your stuff accurately.
My stuff will be in the way –
mentally and emotionally.
It will be a block, a blinder.
In fact, what I dislike or judge
or condemn in you will probably be or at least be related to something I
dislike very much in myself.
That, of course, may be
subconscious and not conscious at all.
I may not be aware of that or in
touch with it at all.
So that’s why Jesus says: remove
the beam from your own eye first.
If we do that, then the issue of
judging – which Jesus is talking about here – will probably not be a big
problem.
We will be far less inclined or
tempted to judge one another.
So, that’s my ruminating on this
passage.
