Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Some years ago, there were high school courses which provided high school students with brief but intensive real-life experiences in dealing with physical special needs. This included something as elaborate as a student being assigned to 24 hours of personal care for a life-sized infant doll. This doll just happened to be fully wired and recorded the care it received (or didn’t), such as being fed when hungry, diaper changed when needed, and handled with care. Needless to say, it brought a whole new level of awareness. Other programs required students to wear blindfolds and experience other physical disabilities.

This high school level learning experience can challenge all of us about our own awareness and our attitudes. Our liturgical readings today provide some blunt lessons calling for change in the way we see or don’t see. St. Paul is observing his own personal history and clearly sees his sinfulness in his treatment of others and marvels at the mercy of God which drew him out of what he calls his “ignorance of unbelief.”

This “ignorance of unbelief” is the target behind the sharp reprimand of Jesus when he corrects the person who presumes to judge and belittle his or her neighbor for an infraction or fault. It just happens that the accuser has a beam in their eye and chooses to ignore their own blindness or prejudice. Is it possible that as adults we have experienced so much in life but somehow failed to learn the most valuable lessons, like… walking in someone else’s shoes?

Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB