Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(II Kings 17:5-8.13-15a.18; Matthew 7:1-5)
When Jesus talks of splinters and beams, he
is using metaphorical language. He does
not mean pieces of wood but prejudices.
People judge others, perhaps because of the color of their skin, as
bigoted or violent. They will treat the
others then with meanness or suspicion.
Jesus exhorts his disciples to stop judging
in this way. (We would say “stereotyping.”) He wants to make them aware that they are
often conditioned to judge others negatively.
Once aware of that – the beam removed from their eye – they may judge correctly.
We do well to talk with the people whom we
find difficult. Conversation often
reveals much commonality among peoples and individuals. We may find goodness in others we would have
not imagined before.
