1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 / Luke 6:39-42
To read a book from cover to cover, or to watch a movie from beginning to end, does not necessarily mean that we know what the book is really saying or what the movie is really all about.
Similarly in life, we see and hear a lot of things, but it does not mean that we understand everything.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul humbly and sincerely admitted that he used to be a blasphemer and persecuted Christians.
But he was awakened and enlightened from his ignorance by the mercy of God.
Indeed it is only through the mercy of God that we can understand what life is all about, and we will also be enlightened to live a life of love.
Indeed it is through the mercy of God that we will see first, our own ignorance and the splinters in our own eyes.
Only when we first understand ourselves and see ourselves clearly, then we will be able to understand others and see them for who they really are.
I once saw a poster of a blind-folded boy trying to catch the others in a game of catching.
The caption read: Playing blind is funny for those who can see.
But for us, life and love is not a game. Playing blind is not going to be funny.
May the mercy of God help us to see clearly, so that we will love tenderly, and walk humbly with our God.