My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today's readings at Mass will speak to us about the necessity of personal conversion before we can become fruitful in his vineyard and help others to get closer to him. Saint Paul is consumed with the responsibility of preaching the Gospel, but he knows that the preacher himself must continually be trained and converted. Jesus makes the same point through the memorable image of the splinter and the wooden beam. Before attempting to correct or guide another person, we ought to first look at the beam in our eyes, rather than the splinter in our neighbour's eyes. We cannot effectively lead others somewhere we ourselves are unwilling to go.