Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 22, 2022 | By Bishop Roy E. Campbell, Jr.

“From the fulness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Jesus told His disciples, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” He goes on to say, “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”

Jesus is telling His disciples that anyone leading another, while relying only on his own “wisdom” is domed to failure, and anyone following that person will suffer the same fate. True wisdom comes from learning from our Teacher, our Lord, Jesus. We will never be as great as He is, but we will be like Him, leading others by the Gospel of “love and salvation” that He has given us.

In our reading from the Book of Sirach, an Old Testament book of wisdom, we hear that what comes out of one’s mouth, reveals what is in their mind. Before praising someone for their “wisdom” and begin to follow them, we must listen to what they have to say. It will reveal if their “wisdom” comes from Christ and His Gospel. If not, and we follow that person because of what that person says, then we become the blind being led by the blind.

The wisdom that Jesus calls us to follow starts with looking contritely at ourselves, before preaching to others how to live. “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

When we look to God for forgiveness of our faults, then others will hear that the words we speak are those telling of the love and mercy of Christ. “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Let us prepare to enter this Lenten Season relying on the love and mercy of Christ’s Gospel and sharing that love and mercy with everyone.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

– Bp. Roy Campbell

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