Reading I
When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;
so do one’s faults when one speaks.
As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace,
so in tribulation is the test of the just.
The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had;
so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind.
Praise no one before he speaks,
for it is then that people are tested.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility
and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality,
then the word that is written shall come about:
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters,
be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Gospel
Jesus told his disciples a parable,
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
“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.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Reflection
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us “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.” Our first reading makes a similar point: that our actions and words reveal the state of our hearts. There is a profound interrelationship between who we are and what we do. Our actions stem from who we are, and our actions affect and shape who we are.
Therefore, Jesus suggests that we attend to our own rotten fruits and remove the “beams” in our eyes before we criticize others. Indeed, our sinfulness can impede our ability to see clearly and help others properly. Our sin warps our hearts and draws us away from the people God made us to be—and that reality should be our foremost concern.
Of course, we must not despair and assume that every sin means we are irrevocably broken. As St. Paul says in our second reading, “When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality…Death is swallowed up in victory.” By our Baptism, we enter the mystical body of Jesus Christ—the incorrupt and immortal. We participate in His saving sacrifice and thus receive His victory. If we are “fully devoted to the Lord,” we can trust that “our work is not in vain,” and that the fruit we bear through Christ is good.
This same hope shows in Jesus’ words: “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” As we strive to labor for the Lord, our actions will form us for the better. By doing God’s Will, we can share in Christ’s likeness and become like Him.
I invite you to pray today that God’s Will be done in your life, and that you might bear good fruit always and only through, with, and in His Son.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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