(2 Kgs 17:5–8, 13–15a, 18; Mt 7:1–5): "A Loving Gaze That Removes the Wooden Beam from the Eye"
Dear brothers and sisters, as we begin this blessed day granted by the Lord, I pray that every new relationship you form today may be filled with the grace of forgiveness and peace.
Today, in our First Reading, we encounter one of the most tragic scenes in the Old Testament: the fall of the Kingdom of Northern Israel. In truth, Israel did not collapse because its military was weak or its diplomacy failed. Rather, as Second Kings precisely points out, "This came about because the Israelites sinned against the Lord, their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt... and because they venerated other gods" (2 Kgs 17:7). Ignoring the persistent warnings of the prophets sent by God, they chased after the flashy customs and idols of foreign nations. The very moment they turned away from a God-centered life and began to look at themselves and their neighbors through 'the eyes of the world,' their spirituality began to crumble.
This tragedy of Israel is deeply connected in spirit with the warning Jesus gives us in the Gospel of Matthew: "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" (Mt 7:3).
It is truly a strange spiritual blindness of human nature that we can detect the slightest fault—a mere splinter—in others as if looking through a microscope, yet we remain completely blind to the massive, deeply rooted sin and pride—the wooden beam—within ourselves.
This tendency seems quite similar to the reason the Israelites worshiped idols: it stems from a fear of confronting our own inadequacies, emptiness, and unfulfilled inner longings. Whether it is inferiority or jealousy, there is an underlying internal defense mechanism prompting us to avoid our negative traits. Because it is too frightening and painful to look at the wooden beam in our own eye, we instinctively turn our gaze outward, exposing someone else’s 'splinter.' Ultimately, this is nothing more than a false comfort born of self-justification, trying to convince ourselves, "At least I am better than that person."
When Jesus says, "Do not judge," He is not merely giving us a moral lecture on being nice. It is a healing prescription meant to save our souls. God's peace can never dwell in a heart that constantly judges others, because the very scale we use to judge our neighbor eventually becomes a prison that confines our own soul.
Therefore, when we see a 'splinter' in our brother’s eye, instead of reacting with anger or condemnation, we must quietly turn inward and ask ourselves: “Lord, why am I so shaken and angered by this trait in that person?” or “Is there perhaps a hidden weakness within me, or a greedy desire for validation, just like theirs?” These are the meaningful questions that lead us to deep self-reflection.
The moment we face these questions is the moment of grace when we finally perceive the 'wooden beam' in our own eye. And when we lay that beam down before the Lord and confess it with tears, we finally step away from the tragic path of Israel and enter the path of true repentance and salvation.
Dear brothers and sisters, only those who have removed the wooden beam from their own eye can truly look at others through 'the eyes of God.' God’s gaze is not an eye of judgment, but an eye of mercy—One who "spares all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls" (Wis 11:26).
Throughout this day, whenever the desire to judge someone rears its head, let us offer the words of today’s Gospel as an aspiration, a short arrow prayer from the heart:
"Lord, let me see the wooden beam within myself before I look at the splinter in my brother’s eye, and heal my soul first with Your mercy. Grant that wherever my gaze may fall, the fragrance of warm forgiveness and grace may spread, rather than sharp judgment. Amen."