Fr. Aidan Writes:
The Gospel today opens up with a question about who sinned. There are those who say that we have lost the sense of sin, but I find it rather interesting that those who do so seem fixated on other people’s sin rather than their own. The psalmist tells us that, “my sin is al- ways before me”. Last week’s Parish Mission by Fr Dominic DeMaio OP certainly reminded us of the need to focus, especially in Lent, on dealing with our sins and not to get into the habit of judging and condemning others. In one of the most direct passages of the gospel, Jesus tells us not to judge, not to condemn and only to forgive. (Luke 6:37)
We live in a very judge-y and condemnatory time where ad hominem attacks, conspiracy theories and a wicked, whirlwind level of falsehoods and evil gossiping obscure truth. This leads to injustice, ferments fear and violence and stops us from living in peace with each other in a constructive, hope- filled society. We need to follow that sister passage to today’s gospel, which calls on us all to deal with the log in our own eye before we presume to comment on the splinter in someone else’s eye. Lent is a privileged time to work on our own faults and failings (not others’). Take hold of the opportunity to do so, it might get us all somewhere…heaven?
God bless you and your families, Fr Aidan-Peter CJ
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter