Once, there was an experiment made. A white sheet of paper with a small block dot in the center. When people were asked “What do they see?” the most popular answer was the “black dot.” Not the white sheet of paper, but the small black dot.

We human beings are not perfect. We have all our sins, our shortcomings, and our imperfections. Sadly, there are people who just see us for these and not for our talents, goodness, and positive traits. In other words, it is the reality of fault-finders in the world. 

In the Gospel, the disciples of Christ experienced the criticisms of the Pharisees. They did not acknowledge the needs of the disciples of Christ; they just pointed out the sin of not picking grains on the sabbath, which is considered work. Work is not allowed during the sabbath.

How to deal with fault finders:

1. Fault Finders have issues that they throw to the people around them. Pope Francis said: “When one cannot love, the heart turns to stone. This stone ends up in the hands and is eventually, thrown to the people around that person.”
2. Return hate with love. Try to understand that these fault-finders are already conflicted. Hence, the challenge is to try to be patient and understand.
3. Do the right thing anyway. We need to have a better world and we are not going to have that if fault finders prevail. Mother Teresa once said, “When you do good, people will doubt you. Do good anyway.”

In every Mass, we reflect on the reality that no one is perfect. May we humble ourselves and try to be a better person, with God’s grace. Along the way, there will be fault finders. May we consider these challenges to make us better persons.