The first reading and gospel speaks to us today where goodness and evil come. It comes from the very core of living things. The true nature within. Of course, nothing in nature is intrinsically evil for everything God created is good. The good tree and the bad tree are metaphors. Left by itself a tree is always good. But it can be corrupted by outside forces in nature such as blight, infestations of parasites and tree diseases.
The problem is human beings. They can appear good but inwardly are full of malice and deceit. Sirach says one can detect this deception by listening to their speech from where their bent of mind is revealed.
Jesus once said that it is not the external things that makes one dirty but what comes out from someone’s heart. Why do we indeed notice the splinter in our brother’s eye when we cannot see the beam in our eye. This is the irony of human pretention. We have all a nostalgia for the good, for the perfect, for the beautiful but we can no longer find it in ourselves. So, we look at others and are jealous of their peace, of their beauty as a person, their graciousness and so we envy them for these. The more beauty we see outside ourselves the more it hurts us. And so, in a kind of an inner soul’s desperateness we look for the tiniest splinter of defect in others so we can feel better knowing that they too are defective like us.
So the pain in our hearts is blunted, so we think, but the loneliness grow deeper without even realizing it. The illusion is that we equate the splinter with our beam which far outweighs the splinter of defect of the other. Besides, oftentimes, we do all these without any basis in reality. How poor has the person become who criticizes another. He or she has become delusional. No matter how one pretends to be a good tree he or she will be exposed because the fruit that comes for their words or actions are bitter. There is no hiding it. Yet we go on living in our delusion. Only a good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good. From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. And there is the rub. Many hearts are empty.
How does one have the fullness of the heart that brings peace and joy to oneself. A heart that is content with the self and is constantly grateful to God the origin of his being. Jesus gave us a hint. We should go to him for he is meek and humble of heart. He will fill our hearts with this humility and meekness.
As long as one has that aura of self-importance no progress happens in the spiritual life. Jesus did not have to fill his heart by what he created. He is the source of all being and power. Therefore, he can be meek and humble of heart. Which means He desires to fill all hearts that are empty with his goodness, peace, and joy. In short, He wants to share his heart with ours.
When our hearts are empty we should pray PS. 139 and take to heart what the psalmist said: O God I thank you for the wonder of my being.. The psalmist also says the God know the depths of our hearts and the purpose that lie there: warts and all, the loneliness, sadness, bitterness, anger and so on and yet one can still say O God, I thank you for the wonder of my being. This is the only way our hearts will begin to heal when we pray this line in the Psalm constantly. It will help us not to see the splinter in the eye of the other for we have no more reason to do so because our hearts are filled with the Lord’s wonder.
It is not enough for a Christian to be tactful, diplomatic and not say words that are really his heart. One can be tactful and diplomatic but in hisorher heart still hates those who do not behave like them and those who are not like them. It is a sham protection their good image in others. The Christian must have a pure heart. From a pure heart no judgment or criticism on others can arise. From a pure heart mercy comes out for the sake of those whose hearts are empty and in pain. For the fulness of the heart of Jesus flows into the heart of the Christian who in turn makes it flow to the needy heart.
Jesus warns those who constantly judge others and speak ill of others that God will turn a deaf ear to their prayers and sacrifices of offerings. The sad thing too is that from human experience it becomes a habit to talk ill of others. The emptiness goes on and on and the illusion too goes on and on because they think they feel better for doing so. It becomes a habit. Ironicall that is just about the only form of happiness they get every waking hours. And just like any habit or addiction the withdrawal is almost impossible to achieve by one’s own effort alone. Only when one surrenders to the Holy Spirit and not by rationalization of one’s action can healing begin.
It is paradoxical that an empty heart must empty itself more; so that God can fill it up with goodness that is found in the wonder of our being.