My Dear People,

In this Gospel, Jesus, a wise teacher, instructs His Disciples with short, pithy aphorisms employing memorable examples and word-pictures. The fountainhead of this kind of instruction in Israel was Solomon, David’s “son” or heir. Now Jesus, the ultimate Son and Heir of David, surpasses Solomon in His ability to teach and communicate wisdom. 

There are three topics addressed in the gospel.  

1)  The importance of the teacher as a model.  

2)  The danger of hypocrisy. 

3)  The mark of a good person. 

First, Jesus stresses the importance of the role of a teacher as a model. With few exceptions, students do not surpass their teacher in knowledge and virtue. Thus, if a teacher is corruptible, there is little hope for the followers. This ought to be instructive for those of us in Western culture, where we often follow principles taught by famous teachers (Spinoza, Darwin, Freud, Descartes, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Marx, etc.) who were perverse and ignoble throughout their lives. How can we expect society as a whole to be elevated by the doctrines of men who themselves were unsuccessful as human beings?

Secondly, Jesus warns about the danger of falling into hypocrisy with His metaphor of the beam and splinter in the eye. One could summarize Jesus’s teachings here by saying that examination of conscience is necessary before fraternal correction. We tend to be blind to our own faults and hyper-conscious of others. We are so aware of all the mitigating factors that go into our own mistakes but not of those that influence others. That’s why patience is in order before judging the actions of others. We need to address: Is my irritation with my brother or sister due to my own issues rather than his or hers? Have I provoked my brother to act the way he does by my own misbehavior? Am I not seeing something relevant about this situation due to my own self-interests? St. Jose Maria recommends checking with a mature third person—one who knows both parties—before making a fraternal correction.

Finally,  Jesus’ advice on how to recognize a good from a bad person: The key distinguishing mark is very empirical: their fruits, which probably means: “their words, deeds, and influence on others.” At the end of the parable, Jesus singles out speech as an example of the “fruit” that a person produces: “from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks!” But “fruit” is broader than simply words! It includes a person’s deeds and the effect one has on others and the whole community.

Language reflects the heart and, in turn, shapes the heart. Jesus warns that at judgment, we will have to give an account of every careless word we’ve spoken (Matt 12:36).  That is a sobering thought and should lead us to reflect:  Do my words consistently honor God?  This would include angry, abusive, sarcastic, cutting, mocking, provocative, salacious, ambiguous, and critical kinds of speech. St. Paul reminds us:  “Immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you! Let there be no filthiness, no silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this:  No immoral or impure man, or one who is covetous, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Eph 5:3-6).

Because the second commandment forbids only the taking of the name of the Lord in vain, some wrongfully have the idea that only false or vain swearing is a sin and that other kinds of coarse or profane language are not technically sins. This is incorrect: there are many ways to sin (with words) that do not involve misuse of the name of God or holy persons. 

God created the world through words. As creatures in the image of God, our words, too, have the power to influence reality. 

Let’s pray this Sunday for a purification of our hearts through the Holy Spirit so that our speech, flowing from a pure heart, will be like a lifegiving stream of cool fresh water to those who hear it. 

(Taken from Reflections on the Sunday readings for Year C by John Bergsma)

Yours in Christ, 

Fr. Vincent Clemente