Tuesday of week 12 in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Matthew 7:6,12-14In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to a path of wisdom, authenticity, and love. He teaches us to treat others as we ourselves would wish to be treated and encourages us to enter through the narrow gate that leads to life. This journey begins with knowing ourselves honestly before God. Only when we recognize our own dignity, weaknesses, desires, and need for mercy can we truly understand and welcome others. Self-knowledge protects us from projecting our fears and expectations onto those around us and helps us discern how to share what is holy with wisdom and respect. At the same time, the Gospel calls us to move beyond self-centeredness and open our hearts to others with generosity, empathy, and love. The narrow gate is precisely this path of genuine relationship: leaving behind selfishness, prejudice, and indifference in order to encounter others as brothers and sisters. The Golden Rule is not merely an ethical principle; it is an invitation to see others through the same compassion with which God sees us. True discipleship begins when we allow God’s love to reveal who we are and then let that same love flow outward in openness, respect, and service toward others. Let’s reflect: Do I know myself honestly before God and allow His love to open my heart to others, treating them with the same compassion, respect, and understanding that I desire for myself?
Don Giorgio