Friday 13 September

St John Chrysostom (M)

1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14; Psalm 16; Luke 6:39-42

Judging ourselves and others

Jesus uses strong words to teach us to recognize our own weaknesses and sins before daring to criticize, or worse still, to give advice, to others. The Sacrament of Reconciliation invites us to recognize the 'log' in our own eye, to see who we truly are before God. Paul, writing to Timothy, teaches us something similar: he humbly acknowledges the person he used to be and gives all the credit for his conversion to the Lord! In fact, it is often the sinfulness that we do not acknowledge in ourselves that we most often criticise in our neighbour! Psychologists call this 'projection'!