Ash Wednesday is almost here! On this final Sunday of Ordinary Time before the great seasons of Lent and Easter, Jesus invites us to reflect on our words, deeds, and thoughts, and to repent for the places where we have fallen short. In today’s gospel, Jesus characterizes the Pharisees and teachers of the law as “blind guides” leading their followers “into a pit.” They carp and criticize others for failing to observe the minutiae of the law while they themselves are guilty of far worse crimes. Such hypocrisy results from a lack of self-examination: “Remove the beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” From this criticism of the self-deceived Pharisees, Jesus moves to a more general call to reflection: “every tree is known by its fruit.” The Pharisees were concerned with external contaminants to their purity, but responsibility for our words and actions cannot ultimately be attributed to external forces. Rather, they are drawn from the “store” of either good or evil in our hearts. Contamination comes from within (cf. Mark 7).
As we enter Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, we are invited to reflect upon the state of our own hearts. Do our lives produce good or evil fruit? Do we live consistently with our professed values and beliefs? Are we concerned with our own actions, or would we rather criticize the faults of others? Are the words we speak filled with grace and charity, or anger and complaining? As we enter into Lent, Sacred Scripture encourages us to keep our eyes fixed toward heaven, confident that God will bless our efforts toward holiness. “The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,/ like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow” (Ps. 92:12). For the one who endures Lenten penance, St. Paul assures that “your labor is not in vain.” Those who endure the privation of Lent will soon see Easter joy, when “death is swallowed up in victory”!
Reflection by Parishioner Kathryn Wilmotte