Do you tend to find fault and criticize? What could be behind that tendency? Look into yourself -Daily Reflections January 17,2015

FAULT-FINDERS’ FRATERNITY

 

Every parish or community I know has them. They come in various forms, shapes and guises. They are known by a multiplicity of names and titles: Walkers Club United, St. So & So Badminton Club, Better Life Tennis Group, etc. Most of them are assets to the community. But let us face it. Some of them could be nothing more than a “fault-finders’ fraternity” of sorts.

       I gave regular Masses at a parish where, in hushed whispers, they talked of the existence of the so-called “Alis Pari Gang.” The mere fact that there had been a succession of so many priests coming and going to the parish shows the big possibility that there is, indeed, such a group.

       But my task is not to reflect on them but on the readings today. Incidentally, there, too, was such a group in Jesus’ times. Some of them

were scribes. Some were Pharisees. A great many were both, at one and the same time, exactly like how a bevy of women in parishes are members of sometimes as many as four or five different groups.

       They were out in search not for the truth, but for whatever fault they can pin others down. They were the busybodies of Jesus’ time who attended every dinner, every party, every gathering (and every parish meeting!) where everybody who was somebody was visible and present.

       Today, Mark’s Gospel reports the powerful venom of destruction they have. While the Lord was busy culling and calling recruits, not to just one more of those clubs, but to a movement and way of life, members of the fraternity were all revved up trying to see how the runner would stumble. And they saw what they were looking for: “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

       At times, I could also be a fault-finder, not a builder; a critic, not a creative do-gooder. Christ has come to build, not to destroy; to perfect, not to take away anything; to deeply sanctify, not just to transform. And He has one reminder for us today: “Come, follow me!” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you tend to find fault and criticize? What could be behind that tendency? Look into yourself.

 

Grant me a compassionate heart, Lord, that I may see all —including myself — with understanding and acceptance.