In an age of constant live connections, the central question of self-examination is drifting from ‘Who are you?’ towards ‘What are you doing?

People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering – St Augustine: (354 – 430: was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy)

Gospel Text: (MT 7:1-5)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,

and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother,

‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’

while the wooden beam is in your eye?

You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;

then you will see clearly

to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

Why is it so hard for us to look at ourselves? Is it because we want to avoid the tough questions? Is it because if we were really honest with ourselves, we would see that we need a lot of work and don’t want to commit to make a change? Even if our heart is in the right place and we are honestly wanting to help someone, we often find ways to avoid looking at our own shortcomings.

Jesus wants us to look inward. If we are going to follow and obey Him, we have to be willing to look objectively at our lives and see where we’re falling short; not to shame us and make us feel guilty, but to grow us closer into relationship with Him.

If we want to give others our best, we have to be our best.