Today's Gospel

What is Jesus' Measuring Stick for Your Life?

This reading is amazing. Seven verses, got at least seven lessons in it. Starts out, he told them a parable. "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?" Isn't that what we're seeing in our society in so many ways? Isn't that what we subscribe to in our society in so many ways? Who are you following? Who are you following? I think it's important for us to step back from time to time and say, "Okay, who's leading?" And who are we following? And where are we going? And have we fallen into a pit? And if we have fallen into a pit, do we even know we've fallen into a pit? Jesus goes on to say lesson number two, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? There's so much judgment in our culture. There's so much outrage about other people's shortcomings. But when is the time when we as individuals pause and say, "Okay. What are my shortcomings?" And when is the time when we as a culture pause and say, "What are the shortcomings of our culture? What are the shortcomings of our society?" And do we have the courage? Do we have the character? Do we have the virtue to address the shortcomings, both in our own lives and in our society? Or will we continue to just continue on like hypocrites Jesus' word, not mine, and just pointing out other people's faults and failings, weaknesses, and shortcomings? From there, Jesus pivots. We're still in the same reading seven verses. He says, "For no good tree bears bad fruit." No good tree bears bad fruit. One of the most famous phrases in the Scriptures, you know a tree by its fruits. And so what are the fruits? What are the fruits of your life? What are the fruits of my life? And when do we pause and say, "Okay. Was this a good season?"

A farmer at the end of the season takes account, takes stock, does an inventory, does an assessment, and says, "Okay, was this a good season?" We're called to ask ourselves, "Okay, was this a good season in my life?" What was the fruit? Was it good fruit? Was it bad fruit? Jesus goes on continuing to talk about the tree, continuing to talk about how we are affected by this good and bad fruit, what the source of this good and bad fruit is. He says, "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good. And the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil." So let me ask you, are you the good or the evil? Which one are you? It's so easy to adopt the binary approach, right? It's so easy to think, "Okay, I'm mostly the good one." So I must be the good one. The reality is we're both, right? Reality is sometimes we bring forth good fruits, sometimes we bring forth bad fruits, sometimes we bring forth from the good treasure in our hearts, and sometimes we bring forth from the bad treasure in our hearts. And the fruit is according to how and when we bring it forth.

But what gives me pause here? And I haven't noticed this before in this reading, and obviously it's one we read a lot, but just this phrase, the good treasure of his heart, the good man out of the good treasure of his heart, produces good. What is the good treasure of your heart? And what are you doing to add to the good treasure of your heart? If that's where we draw things from, if that's where we draw our words and our thoughts and our actions is from this good treasure in our hearts, how do we add to that good treasure? And what are you going to do this week differently than last week to add to the good treasure of your heart so that you can go forth and draw from that good treasure a different type of word, a different type of behavior, a different type of thought, and leave the world a better place for it?

I hope you're enjoying the Daily Gospel Reflections. So one of the things I love doing, spending this time with you each day. Recently, I released a book called 33 Days to Divine Mercy. If you haven't had a chance to check that out yet, I encourage you to do that today.