The Blind Cannot Lead the Blind
How can we remove obstacles to goodness in our lives? Br. John Vianney Russell, O.P., shares a Gospel reflection for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lk 6:39–45) in our weekly video series.
As you may know, our actions follow from what is in our hearts, if our hearts are attached to things that are obstacles to goodness, then our actions will also be obstacles to goodness. And if we can't pursue goodness in our own lives, then we won't be able to help others to do so either.
In Luke Chapter six, Jesus tells His followers a parable illustrating this exact same point. He tells. That the blind cannot lead the blind. If you have a beam in your eye that is keeping you from seeing properly, then how can you see a tiny splinter in your brother's eye? Even if you do see it, how can you hope to help him take it out if you can't see?
Many of the things we're attached to are obstacles to our own goodness. Since they prevent us from pursuing goodness, they also prevent us from bringing goodness into the lives of others. We can't help others to see their missteps if we are blind to our own.
As Chris says, “a good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart.” In other words, our actions follow from whatever we're attached to in our hearts.
So, let's look deeply at our own hearts. If we're honest with ourselves, we can see that, even when we do good things, the intentions of our hearts are mixed at best. Out of charity, we earnestly want to feed the hungry. But, in our pride we also want to be seen doing it. And we want to excel in our careers. That is good. But, in our laziness, we also want to put in as little work as possible to do so. Out of a deep selflessness, we want to care for our loved ones. But, in our selfishness we don't want them to ask too much of us.
What are we to do with all these mixed-up emotions and attachments in our hearts? The key lies in removing the beams of blindness. Remove the lies in your hearts that obscure who you really are.
Yes, we are really tempted to sin. It's real. We should acknowledge it and be aware of it. But, those temptations are not who you really are. Christ has revealed who you are. You are a son or daughter of the father. Your true self is your desire to feed the poor with nobody knowing, to be diligent in your work to honor God, and to care for your loved ones even when they ask too much of you.
Our actions do follow from what is in our hearts. If we allow Christ to tell us who we are, then we can remove the beams of falsehood and find that we are made for love. When we are free from obstacles to goodness, then our actions will manifest goodness in our lives and the lives of others.
Image: Domenico Fetti, The Parable of the Mote and Beam, 1619, Public Domain
