March 3, 2019

Emails. Carpools. Shopping lists. Home repairs. It can seem like we move so quickly from one thing to the next. Our news comes in sound bites and headlines. How often do we take time for silence, for prayer, for reflection, for wisdom? Jesus warns us of stumbling through life without an adequate sense of where we're going. "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?" This Sunday's Gospel isn't about fumbling along but offers a self-check on our own motivations.
"Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?" Without adequate self-reflection, it's easy to become blind to our own faults. We go through life's motions as our bad habits linger or even increase. We may become increasingly impatient, we may avoid important tasks, we may neglect the emotional needs of our spouse. Perhaps, in the process, we find fault with those around us. In the words of Jesus, "remove the wooden beam from your own eye first."
So how do we know? How can we notice the hidden faults in our lives? "A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of store of evil produces evil." Do you notice certain relationships that have become strained, or situa-tions where you know you don't act your best? Perhaps this is an area where you are acting out of sin, rather than virtue. The truth is, all of us are a mixture of light and dark, vice and virtue. We can't pretend we're perfect! But we also need to take time to pause and prayerfully examine the fruit we're bearing.
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