today's other readings are 1 Timothy 1 and Psalm 16
A thankfully infrequent event is when I get something in my eye. The irritation demands immediate action. I run to a sink, fill a glass with lukewarm water, then tilting my head back over the sink, carefully pour the water into the affected eyeball, all the while pulling the eyelids wide open with the fingers of the other hand. While messy, this method is effective, and soon relief arrives.
Pat Marrin points out that Jesus used a short parable about about the irritation of a speck in the eye to help people realize that even our smallest faults, the ones too close for us to notice, are the ones that blind us in dealing with others, whose faults are always so obvious, glaring and irritating. And often the method I outline above doesn't work. It takes someone close to us to help us overcome the little blind spots that distort our vision and keep us from being more patient and empathetic to the common self-centeredness that affects us all.
Jesus reminds us that one needs to deal first with your own faults and then you can help others. Underlying this message is the understanding of the need to accept the human condition you share with everyone. When you do that, we realize that each day is an exercise in forgiveness and asking to be forgiven. Love grows in that home or workplace or school setting where the willingness to help is stronger than the need to criticize others.