Sawdust

Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Ps 119 (118):137, 124 You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19.22-27; Psalm 83; Luke 6:39-42

Jesus also told the people this parable: Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Luke 6:39-42)

Sawdust Of its nature, the universe is a cauldron of change. There is constant alteration and movement. This vast fact, as explored by great minds, is a principal way to God who is the changeless One — himself never altering because of the limitless richness of his being. Change! Motion! Alteration! Hurricanes come and go. Gradually forest lands become deserts. The world’s population over one century is entirely replaced by another, and so it has been for aeons. Periods of peace burst into the flames of war. Autocratic regimes are engulfed in revolutions, to be replaced by succeeding dictatorships or democracies. Man sees before him beauty and ugliness in unfolding succession, and he strives to manage this changing world for his own flourishing. But I propose this, that what we see in the external world is but a reflection of the cauldron and drama within man’s own heart. The drama without is a reflection of the drama within. Indeed, the action within is of decisive importance for the action without. Our Lord said that it is not what goes inside a man that makes him unclean — which is to say, it is not the state of the world that is the decisive problem. It is what comes out of a man’s heart that makes him unclean. It is sin which corrupts man, and we know from Revelation that it was the original sin of man that corrupted the world. Sin entered the world through one man, and with sin death entered and spread to the whole human race. The heart of man — which is to say his conscience and the sanctuary that is his inner spirit — is the real engine that drives the course of the outer, visible universe. Scarcely possible as it is to imagine, what would the world have been like if from the beginning mankind had been, and had remained, holy? What would the world have been like had it been populated by saints rather than sinners? It is the heart of man that contains the key to the health, the flourishing, and the temporal and eternal prosperity of man. But let us take the point to a more practical and concrete issue. What is it in the heart of man that makes a tremendous difference to the life and community of man? I suggest it is largely how we judge our brother.

In his inspired Letter, St James speaks of the power of the human tongue to shape the world. “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide the rest of their bodies. It is the same with ships: however large they are, and despite the fact that they are driven by fierce winds, they are directed by very small rudders on whatever course the steersman’s impulse may select. The tongue is something like that” (3:3-5). St James continues with his simile, showing how the world is affected by what comes out of a man. “See how tiny the spark is that sets a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is such a flame. It exists among our members as a whole universe of malice. The tongue defiles the entire body. Its flames encircle our course from birth, and its fire is kindled by hell” (3:5-6). But the tongue is but manifesting what is going on in the heart. St James asks, “Where do the conflicts and disputes among you originate? Is it not your inner cravings that make war within your members? What you desire you do not obtain, and so you resort to murder. You envy and you cannot acquire...” (4:1-2). It is what man thinks and wants and chooses that shapes his life and the world around him. Let us be more precise. It is how in his heart he judges his brother that makes such a decisive difference. He is injured, either deliberately or unconsciously, and he judges his brother darkly. He may not be injured at all, but he observes how his brother acts, and he criticizes, judges, despises him. That posture of the heart is decisive. We see sawdust in our neighbour’s eye, and we think there is a lot of it there, indeed far too much. We dislike it, and we dislike him. In our Gospel today, Christ is explicit. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?” (Luke 6:39-42). The world is a far poorer place for the majority of its inhabitants judging harshly of their neighbours.

Let us begin with ourselves. Let us especially be on guard over our hearts when we feel injured. We ought aim to be virtuous in heart, especially when it is difficult. Indeed we ought aim at heroic virtue, with the example of Jesus Christ constantly before us and the promise of his grace. If we feel inconvenienced, rebuffed, injured, not considered, let us resolve to pardon, to look on the attainments and virtues of our neighbour rather than on his defects. Above all, let us pray for those who injure us, knowing that this is the path pursued by Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Let us not judge and condemn our brother, for in that way God will not judge and condemn us.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (1 Corinthians 9:16-19.22-27)

Our Spiritual Responsibilities I remember watching an interview of the great actor, Charlton Heston. He said that one of the biggest problems now is that people do not take responsibility for their actions. That is to say, people need a greater sense of personal responsibility. What was it that drove St Paul to such lengths in his missionary life and work? By his own account (1 Cor. 9: 16-19.22-27) it was his sense of responsibility. It was not something he had chosen to do. Rather it was "a responsibility that has been placed in my hands." His reward was to have fulfilled that responsibility by bringing the Gospel to others free of charge. Each one of us has a share in this same responsibility to bring Christ and his Gospel to others wherever we are, be it in family, work, parish, or wherever. If we fail to fulfill this responsibility, no-one else will be there in our place to do it. There will remain a lack at that point, and that lack will reverberate elsewhere and beyond.

Let us be alive to our spiritual responsibilities to ourselves, to our own sanctification, and to the sanctification of others. We take others with us towards heaven or towards hell. What happens to them is to some extent our responsibility, just as what happens to us is our responsibility.

(E.J.Tyler)

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