In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to remove the wooden beam from our own eye before trying to take the splinter out of someone else’s. It’s a vivid reminder that true discipleship begins with self-examination. Before I can help my neighbor, I need to let God heal my own heart.

The readings today and yesterday have been spot on for what we have been experiencing in our country as of late – with the shooting in Minneapolis at the Catholic school, the political assassination and the school shooting that took place on Wednesday, the shooting at the Naval Academy and the bomb threats to many colleges and universities yesterday…coupled with yesterday being the anniversary of 9/11. The Lord, through the Church, is giving us a message that is urgent for our time.

We live in a world marked by anger, division, and hostility. And it is so easy for us as humans to blame, to point fingers, to magnify the faults of others. But the Gospel calls us to something different. Jesus tells us to be different! If we want to be instruments of healing, we cannot allow anger or violence to take root in our own hearts. We have to instead cultivate humility, patience, and the willingness to see others first as children of God.

The work of peace begins with conversion…but not the conversion of the world or society or culture…it starts with our own conversion! If we want to change the world, it starts with asking God to change us. When we allow Him to remove the beams from our eyes, then we can see more clearly, love more deeply, and build the bridges our world so desperately needs.

And so the Lord asks each of us today: Will you be part of the problem, adding to division and judgment? Or will you be part of the solution, allowing Christ to purify your heart so that you can help heal the hearts of others? The choice, and the responsibility, begins with us.

Painting: Domenico Fetti, The Parable of the Mote and the Beam, cir. 1619. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wikimedia Commons. Used under public domain license.