Daily Reading
First Reading
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,
even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Psalm
Psalm 16:1b-2a, 5, 7-8, 11
For in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Gospel Reading
Luke 6:39-42
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?
A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.
Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck from your neighbor’s eye.
Reflection
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asks, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” I recommend that you apply this text to your choice of a spiritual director.
Does the person to whom you’ve entrusted your soul know where to take you? Or are they as lost as you are? How do we know whether they see properly? In a way, this is rather simple: Have you entrusted yourself to someone who is utterly dedicated to Christ?
The next quality of a good spiritual teacher is that he acknowledges his need for a savior. Jesus uses a rather funny image to make this point: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?”
Every spiritual teacher is eager to tell you what’s wrong with you. They are confident diagnosticians of your problems. But unless they’ve surrendered to Christ and found salvation in him, they are absolutely in no position to help you. They are as absurd as the man with a roof beam sticking out of his eye.