20250912 BLINDNESS AND IGNORANCE
12 September 2025, Friday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Timothy 1:1-2,12-14 |
I used to be a blasphemer, but the mercy of God was shown me
From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus appointed by the command of God our saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, true child of mine in the faith; wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-8,11 |
You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.’
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.
You are my inheritance, O Lord.
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
You are my inheritance, O Lord.
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.
You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps147:12,15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn17:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:39-42 |
Can the blind lead the blind?
Jesus told a parable to the disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.’
BLINDNESS AND IGNORANCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Tim 1:1-2,12-14; Ps 16:1-2,5,7-8,11; Lk 6:39-42]
When Jesus was on the cross, He prayed for His enemies, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) Indeed, it is much easier to forgive those whom we believe to be ignorant than to forgive those who cause us harm deliberately. Yet, the truth is that perhaps even the most evil and selfish person is acting from ignorance rooted in pride, insecurity and fear. If people could really see the truth about themselves, they will not act in that manner because we all seek happiness, joy and peace in life. But because of ignorance and fear, we are deceived by the temptations of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the deceitfulness of the Evil One. Indeed, the letter of Hebrews reminds us, “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:12f)
This was the case for St Paul in today’s first reading. He recounted his conversion from being a persecutor of Christians to becoming a witness and proclaimer of the Christian Gospel. With deep regret and gratitude for the mercy and grace of Christ, he said, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown to me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.” Paul was ignorant of the Christian Faith. Being a faithful Jew, he thought he was being true to what God had commanded His people to do. He wanted his fellowmen to be faithful to the Law of Moses, to save them, and to prevent them from leading others astray. In his zeal, he arrested many of them and put them in jail. This was because he did not yet know Jesus. But after encountering Him along the road to Damascus, his whole perspective changed, for the Lord revealed Himself as the Risen Lord living in His people. He said to Saul, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:5)
In the Gospel today, the Lord warns us about the judgment we render to others. Significantly, this teaching comes immediately after Jesus’ instruction to love our enemies. “If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk 6:34-36) What is important to take note here is the call to be merciful, one of Luke’s favourite themes. He even changed Matthew’s rendition of Jesus’ words: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48) For Luke, perfection is not so much about being perfect like God in every way, but rather to be perfect in mercy and forgiveness.
How, then, are we to be merciful in judgment? We must judge as God judges. The standard of judgment cannot be ourselves, because we are not perfect. The standard must be God. As King David said in the psalm, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.” (Ps 51:3f) We must not judge others according to our limited view of things. This explains why Jesus said, “Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher.” The truth is, we are blind both to our own sins and to the motives of others’ actions.
If we are to judge well, we must measure ourselves against the Lord, not against our fellowmen. The reason why we are often quick to judge is because we measure others by our own standards. Hence, we think that we are holy just because we do not commit serious sexual sins as others do. So, we condemn them, forgetting that we have a share in the sin of lust, if not in action, then, at least in thought. And even if the sin of lust is not our weakness, we have other weaknesses that others do not have, such as greed, and sloth. In other words, we forget that we are all sinners each guilty in different ways and to varying degrees.
Most of all, we cannot know their motives for doing what they did. We assume all are equally guilty simply because of their external actions. But God judges the heart, as He did in the case of Saul. God knew that Saul was acting out of ignorance, thinking that he was glorifying God by persecuting Christians. That was why God could see in Saul what others could not see. When God instructed Ananias to assist Saul, Ananias was initially reluctant and apprehensive, saying: “I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:13-16) God sees more than we can see. As He told Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Sm 16:7)
Indeed, the Lord also made it clear that it is the heart that matters, not what we do. Today’s parable is followed by the parable on the tree and its fruits. “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.” (Lk 6:43f) We must not be too taken up by external actions, even if they are good actions, because people do things with different motives. Some people give or do good works not to help the Church or the poor, but for honor or secure special privileges. Fruits are fruits, but as the Lord said, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (Lk 6:45) It is the heart that counts.
Consequently, before we judge others, we must first examine our own hearts, conduct and motives. When we are more concerned about judging others for what they do and say, we fall into the sin of self-righteousness. What we should be doing is to focus first on our own brokenness and woundedness, for only then can we exercise mercy towards others. This explains why the Lord said, “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye”, when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.”
So, let us ask the Lord to remove our blindness, ignorance, prejudice, and pride so that we may recognize ourselves as sinners among fellow sinners. When we know that we are sinners, we will learn to be merciful and compassionate. More so when we experience God’s forgiveness, we will be able to render forgiveness to others. As the Lord said to the adulterous woman, “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” (Lk 7:47) And to the unforgiving servant, He said, “Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Mt 18:33-35)
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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