Jesus teaches us a very important lesson about true discipleship in today's gospel. We must avoid pharisaical self-righteousness. We must not be too quick to judge others, when we ourselves are blind to our own failings. We may easily notice the tiny "splinter" of wood in the eye of our neighbour, and yet be unaware of the large beam or log in our own eye.

In the first reading, the beginning of St Paul's first pastoral letter to Timothy, we see Jesus' teaching in the Gospel clearly lived by the great Paul. He is writing to advise his young disciple, Timothy, to be a good and loving pastor of the flock entrusted to him. While scholars today question the actual date and authorship of the letter (it seems to be towards the end of the first century), the author's description of his conversion and total dependence on the grace of God is very much in the spirit of Paul. He truly saw the "beam" in his own eye - his sinful life prior to his conversion - and never forgot how merciful God had been to him.

If we too are deeply aware of God's mercy to us, we will never be harsh in our judgement of others. We may have to correct them; but it should always be done in humility. We are fellow beneficiaries of the overwhelming love of Jesus Christ. All of us need his grace, and none of us can despise or feel superior to the others.