Trong bài đọc thứ nhất, chúng ta được nhắc nhở rằng lời nói của chúng ta cho thấy được chúng ta thực sự là ai, giống như thấy quả thì biết cây: "Một cây được chăm sóc tốt thì có thể sẽ cho quả tốt."
Tương tự, trong bài đọc hai thánh Phaolô cam đoan là những viêẹc chúng ta làm cho Chúa và với Chúa thì luôn luôn sẽ có kết quả tốt.
Trong Tin Mừng, Chúa Giêsu nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng các tất cả những việc chúng ta làm sẽ phản ánh chúng ta thực sự là ai. Một người tốt làm những điều tốt từ trái tim, trong khi những người xấu thực hiện những ý nghĩa xấu xa cũa họ ngay trong tâm hồn xấu xa của họ’’. Cũng giống như cây: một cây tốt sinh ra trái tốt trong khi cây xấu không thể sinh trái tốt. Giống như một người mù không thể dẫn dắt một người mù khác!
Chúng ta chắc chắn có thể nói là chúng ta biết về một người từ các công việc mà anh ta làm.
Trong bài Tin Mừng, Chúa cũng cảnh báo chúng ta về việc phán xét người khác. Chúng ta không thể thực sự nhìn thấy được tâm hồn của người khác. Và vì vậy, chúng ta không thể đánh giá người khác một cách nghiêm khắc hơn là chính bản thân mình: "'Anh hãy để tôi lấy cái cọng rác này ra khỏi mắt bạn", trong khi chúng ta không thể thấy cái xà nhà trong mắt mình? Đồ giả hình trước hết hãy gỡ cái xà nhà trong mắt của bạn trước và sau đó bạn có thể thấy rõ ràng cái cọng rác và gỡ bỏ nó ra khỏi mắt người của người chung quanh. " "Đừng phán xét" là một trong những nền tảng của giáo lý Kitô giáo. Từ khi còn nhỏ, chúng ta đã được dạy là không nên phán xét người khác và chỉ có một mình Chúa mới có quyền phán xét. Và giờ đây, chúng ta hãy cầu xin Thiên Chúa nhân từ và luôn thương xót chúng ta.
In the first reading from Sirach we are reminded that our speech reveals who we really are, similar to the kind of fruit of a tree: "A well-tended tree is shown by its fruits."
In similar fashion, in the second reading from 1 Corinthians Paul assures
that our labor for and with the Lord will always be fruitful.
In the Gospel reading Jesus reminds us that our works reflect who we truly are. A good person does good things from his good heart while an evil person does evil from his evil heart. Just like trees: a good tree produces good fruit while a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Just like a blind person being unable to lead another blind person!
We can surely tell what a person is from the works that he does.
In the Gospel reading the Lord also cautions us about judging others. We cannot really read the hearts of a person. And so often we dare to judge others much more strictly than we do ourselves: "'Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,' when you can't remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor's eye."
"Do not judge" is one of the foundations of Christian teachings. Since we were small children we have been taught not to judge others and that only God has the right to judge. And we beg that the good God would always be merciful to us.
Are you “fully trained?” What does it mean to be fully trained? Jesus makes it clear that those who are fully trained will be like their teacher. Of course, we must become like our Lord, who is the one and only Teacher. So are you like Him in every way?
Being fully trained as a Christian is different than being fully trained in an occupation. For example, a doctor is fully trained when all the necessary lessons are learned and the practical aspects of medicine are put into practice. That is why that person becomes a doctor, just like the doctors who were their teachers. But the Christian life is not something we master by learning many teachings of the faith so that, by our expertise, we can then put them into practice using our natural talents. For a Christian to be fully trained, it is necessary that the Divine Physician fully possess them, live within them, and act through them. Thus, Christian training is the practice of allowing God to become one with you so that it is God Who acts in and through you.
This form of “training” first takes on the goal of freeing us from spiritual blindness. We must see Christ and come to know Him. Again, this is not a matter of simply learning various truths about God in an intellectual way. It’s a matter of coming to know the Truth Himself. We must see and know the Person Who is Christ Jesus. This is true sight. Blindness, however, can always set in again when we take the eyes of our soul off the Savior.
Seeing Christ, however, is not enough. Seeing must be followed by doing. That is why our Lord goes on to say in today’s Gospel that “every tree is known by its own fruit” and that a “good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good.” Seeing Christ Himself, within your soul, will produce that “store of goodness,” and this will make you more “fully trained.” Only then can you produce good fruit, for it will be Christ Himself producing the good fruit in and through you.
So back to our original question: “Are you fully trained?” Do you daily keep your eyes on a Person, Jesus Himself? And if so, do You allow Him to act in your life and, through you, in the lives of others? If you cannot answer these questions with a confident “Yes,” then you might have more blindness in the spiritual life than you realize.
Reflect, today, upon your mission to become a fully trained soldier of Christ. God wants to use you, to live within you, and to act through you. He wants you to be like Him in every way. This is only possible when you admit the blindness with which you struggle, turn your eyes to Him, and allow Him to become one with you. Start by turning to Him as He dwells within you. Search for Him, seek Him, and love Him. If you keep your eyes upon Him, He will carefully take care of the rest, leading you to a fully trained and fruitful life.
My divine Teacher, I turn to You, the Lord of all, and seek to fix my gaze upon You. As I see You, please remove my blindness and confusion. In place of these, give me wisdom so that I will always allow You to live in me and act through me, bearing an abundance of good fruit. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. Remove the Wooden Beam from Your Eye: In his Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus addresses three topics in parables. In the first parable, Jesus speaks about our relationships with others and how we attempt to guide and teach others. Those who are blind cannot successfully guide the blind. Jesus is evoking the image of physical blindness to speak about the pitfalls of spiritual blindness. Jesus then evokes the relationship of a disciple to their teacher. A disciple, who, by definition, is learning from their teacher, will not surpass their teacher in knowledge. When the teacher has taught their student all that they themselves know, the student (disciple) will be their equal. This doesn’t mean that the disciple or student can continue to grow in knowledge on their own or with a different teacher. But when the teacher is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, no disciple can surpass or even equal their teacher. In the second parable, Jesus speaks about how we can fall into hypocrisy and judge others. We are blind and oblivious to our own major faults and, at the same time, feel like we can judge others and criticize them for their lesser faults. Imagine an employer who is entirely consumed by greed and who hasn’t helped the poor with their abundant wealth, and yet reprimands one of their employees for a minor fault. That is what Jesus is speaking about. We tend to ignore our own major sins and faults and yet can be wholly focused on the lesser sins or imperfections of those around us.
Falling into a Pit: Jesus cautions against two errors we make when trying to share our faith: We know all we need to know about our faith and should not hesitate to speak, or we know too little and should keep our mouths shut. The problem with being spiritually blind is obvious—we cannot see! We cannot know what we do not know, yet we are called as Christians to ‘go out’ and spread the good news of being Christian. How can we answer our baptismal call to bring Jesus to others without turning them away by our words and actions, or by failing to bring him at all because of our timidity and silence? Later in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke we hear that Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven, but he did not do so before spending much time with them. To share our faith with confidence (to avoid falling into a pit) it is imperative that we spend much time with Jesus. “We need no wings to go in search of God, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon him present within us” (St. Teresa of Avila).
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