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Reflection By Fr Herman Hengel;
First Reading Sirach 27:4-7;
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15:54-58;
Gospel Luke 6:39-45
After asking Peter and others to be fishers of men, Jesus continues to instruction.
Quality control has become an important feature of industry and services in recent years. If you walk into your hairdresser you are likely to see some sort of certificate hanging up proclaiming standards and qualifications by the owner and staff.
The question today could be about the quality of our lives as followers of Christ.
Is there a particular standard of being Christian?
Once you ask this question, you can get all sorts of answers…. And there are all sorts of answers that make up a whole package of being Catholic. Of having a relationship with God and belonging to a celebrating community.
The last couple of Sundays Jesus has been teaching some of these qualities to us. As you will remember, we had some radical statements last week: "Be compassionate as your heavenly father is compassionate. Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek.
Those are fundamental attitudes we should live up to.
Today's Gospel is a little more specific. Jesus gives us, what might be called, three little parables showing us how we must behave in certain circumstances.
- The first is about being superior, or rather about not being superior. "The disciple is not superior to his teacher". Or as St. John's Gospel tells us: 'No servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than one who sent him'. Jesus is the great teacher, the one who revealed the mystery of God and taught his disciples the meaning of his life, passion, death and resurrection. As the voice from heaven said: Listen to him". We need to listen to his word, we need to make them our own and live by. Only then can we start and must we start handing on his word. But Jesus says, be careful, learn from your teacher, make it part of your own life and living, take it to heart yourself. Only then are you fit to tell anyone else how to live. 'What is the old saying: don't do as I do, do as I say". Unless we do and live the word of God and know and make it our own.
- The second parable of the splinter and the plank is about judging and criticism of others. We are all good at picking holes in another person's character and behaviour, forgetting our own shortcomings. Jesus says - it is easy to be a hypocrite. I was observing one of our teachers the other day: he was so positive… that is good, you are a fast worker - now you may like to write it again….
- The third parable is the most important of the three and takes us deeper, Bad trees cannot produce fruit. Good words and good actions can only come from a good heart. What we are filled up with, flows out. If we are full of kindness, it will come out, if we are full of anger it will show.
