HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR MONDAY JUNE 20 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
2 Kings 17:5-8,13-15,18
Psalm 59:3-5,12-13
Matthew 7:1-5
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green
*INTRODUCTION*
We live in a somewhat judgmental society. If someone fails in some way, people can take a certain delight in drawing attention to their failure. We are living in a Society were people even social media are there to see and hear who has gone viral or who has been exposed. Many People no longer look at thier own secret mistakes but are ready to throw stones and comments on someone who has made a mistake and it has gone public.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus uses a somewhat humorous image to make a serious point. A person with a plank in their eye struggling to take a splinter out of someone else’s eye might have drawn a few wry smiles from Jesus’ listeners.
*WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE GOSPEL OF TODAY*
1. The serious point Jesus is making is that we are on surer ground when we try to deal with our own failings than when we try to put other people right. A healthy awareness of our own failings and weaknesses can make us hesitate before we are overly judgmental of others. When Jesus says ‘do not judge’, he is saying, ‘do not condemn’.
2. We sometimes have an obligation to condemn what people do, their actions and behaviour. Yet, we are not to condemn the person. Jesus could be critical of people’s behavior without condemning the person. He continued to relate to the person as someone loved by God. In spite of what they may have done, he continued to call them to become the person God desired them to be.
*CONCLUSION*
That is how the risen Lord continues to relate to us all. Even when we have sinned, he continues to love us. The way the Lord relates to us is how he wants us to relate to each other. John’s gospel declares that ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him’. If that is how God is with the world of human beings, it is also how we are to be with each other.
May you all have a Blessed Week of not judging others but working especially on how to change our own weaknesses.
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA