Daily Gospel Reflection - Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Gospel Reflection - Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Gospel Reflection - Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time 

September 10, 2021 

Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time 

Gospel: Lk 6:39-42 

Jesus told his disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” 

Source: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 

Bishop Robert Barron

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.