Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Catechism Links [1]
 
CCC 2563: The heart is the home of truth
CCC 1755-1756: Good acts and evil acts
CCC 1783-1794: Forming conscience and decision-making
CCC 2690: Spiritual direction
CCC 1009-1013: Christian view of death

“The Blind Leading the Blind”
by Sebastien Vrancx, c.1620’s

Readings for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary [4]
 
First Reading: Sirach 27:4-7
 
When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;
so do one's faults when one speaks.
As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace,
so in tribulation is the test of the just.
The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had;
so too does one's speech disclose the bent of one's mind.
Praise no one before he speaks,
for it is then that people are tested.
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Commentary on Sir 27:4-7
 
In this passage the author addresses dangers to human integrity and friendship with three analogies.  The analogy of the shaken sieve refers to the process of separating good grain from husks (or refuse from the Greek kopria). The grain is passed through the sieve, but the refuse is thrown away or burned.  The analogy is mindful of St. John the Baptist’s references to the threshing floor (Matthew 3:12) where the wheat remains but the chaff is burned.  The second analogy, the potter's test, is consistent with the theme of the just being tested through tribulations (see also Sirach 2:5; Wisdom 3:5-6; 1 Peter 1:7).
 
The passage clarifies what will be considered by God and others to be the fruits of integrity: the words uttered by a person define the person’s heart to others.  Similarly, Jesus will also take up this topic as he states, “It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” (Matthew 15:11)
 
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
 
R. (cf. 2a) Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
 
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name. Most High,
to proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
 
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
 
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
declaring how just is the Lord,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
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Commentary on Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
 
Psalm 92 is a song of thanksgiving. The psalmist sees God’s gifts pouring onto the faithful and in consequence, those who dwell with the Lord will flourish and bear fruit. In their faith there is great strength and endurance in God’s great wholesomeness.
 
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Second Reading:
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
 
Brothers and sisters:
When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility
and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality,
then the word that is written shall come about:
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters,
be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 15:54-58
 
This passage is St. Paul’s hymn of victory over death. It concludes his discourse on the resurrection. When the bodies of the elect, by resurrection or change, become incorrupt, death is defeated, prophecy is fulfilled (Isaiah 25:8), and the final victory is won. He loosely quotes Hosea 13:14 in which the “sting” of death is vanquished; a reference to the venomous sting of a serpent’s bite, the allegory to sin. The serpent without its sting can no longer harm those clothed in Christ.
 
St. Paul sees this as existential application of the law, by which sin was defined and applied but without giving mankind the strength to avoid the sins so defined (see also Romans 7:7-25). The hard work of the faithful Christian is not in vain as Christ’s victory is granted and salvation assured.
 
CCC: 1 Cor 15:56 602
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Gospel:
Luke 6:39-45
 
Jesus told his disciples a parable,
"Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,'
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own
eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother's eye.
 
"A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart
produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."
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Commentary on Lk 6:39-45
 
St. Luke continues Jesus’ dialogue from the “Sermon on the Plain” concerning the judgment of others. Taking his disciples aside he tells them that in time they will assume his role in proclaiming the Gospel (“but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher”). The exhortation that follows is not intended to say that they should not notice the failings of others; that would be inconsistent with Matthew 7:5,6. Rather it is “against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one's own faults.” [5]
 
The passage concludes Jesus’ discourse on judgment of others using the analogy of the fruits born by a tree – good and bad. The intent of this allegory was to expose false prophets – hypocrites who say one thing but do another. "What matters is not whether or not we wear a religious habit; it is whether we try to practice the virtues and surrender our will to God and order our lives as His Majesty ordains, and not want to do our will but his" (St Teresa of Avila, "Interior Castle", II, 6). [6]
 
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Reflection:
 
We are fast approaching our season of repentance.  Lent begins this coming Ash Wednesday.  Scripture will remind us how Jesus was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan whose words were clothed in Scripture but whose intent was the eternal fall of humanity.
 
On our Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time we are treated to some tools we can use during our forty days of introspection as we try to become more like what our Lord wants us to be.
 
First, in the reading from the Book of Sirach, the author uses three analogies to press home the point that we must carefully cultivate our interior spirituality. The analogy of the grain and sieve first shows us that even if we appear to be good and pious, the words that come out of our mouths may show others a different picture.  Words disclose our inner thoughts and if those words belie our professed faith, our nature is revealed.
 
The test of the potter, placing the work of his hands into the furnace gives us the analogy of how we react under pressure.  Think of the martyrs we venerate.  When they were put to the ultimate test, how did they react? They did not become apostate – deny their faith.  They sacrificed their lives, demonstrating their inner character.
 
Finally, the son of Sirach uses the analogy of the care of a fruit tree to the early training we give our children and families.  If we have created an environment where Christ’s Gospel is taught by word and example, unless some other superior force intervenes (like friends, media, or evil circumstances) the child’s character will be molded in the likeness of our Lord, as our Heavenly Father intended.
 
Next, St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians reminds us that in Jesus’ act of sacrifice as he gave up his life on the cross, and defeated sin and death for all the faithful.  But, he also gives us an interesting existential look at sin.  He says, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” In this short breath of a statement, the apostle reminds us that there are consequences to sinful behavior.  The Law of Moses defines sin and in so doing creates the concepts of “right” and “wrong.”  In that short statement sin is given power to hurt us, and the greater the sin, the worse the pain suffered as a consequence.
 
At last, we come to St. Luke’s Gospel and Jesus continues his “Sermon on the Plain.” In this selection the Lord has taken on the role of teacher, speaking to his disciples. He reminds them that they will, in the future, be proclaiming the Gospel too.  He cautions them not to judge harshly because they too are flawed.
 
“How can you say to your brother,
'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,'
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?”
 
I want to tell you a story on myself in this instance.  I was much younger, just out of college, therefore knowing everything. I was working in a retail setting and seeing one of my colleagues dressed in what I thought was an inappropriate way, I took him aside and told him that I thought his wardrobe choice was clown-like.  He was taken aback and embarrassed.  Feeling like I had done him a favor, I went on my merry way.  It was only a few days later that my younger sister informed me that I must be color blind given my own selections.  It turned out she was right.  I was blue-green color blind and as a result my judgments on attire from that point forward were suspect. I had judged my colleague with a “log in my own eye.” 
 
Now this sets up something of a conundrum for the Christian.  We are told to look first at our own faults and failings before we judge another.  Yet we are told by St. Matthew, “If your brother* sins [against you], go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.” (Matthew 18:15ff).  In other places in Scripture we are told, as in St. Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, that those that do not work should not eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10ff) So do we have conflicting instructions?
 
No, we do not.  Jesus’ was concerned that his disciples should not, in their preaching, become arrogant, thinking themselves to be better than those to whom they were speaking. (We would never do that would we?) He made sure they understood that each of them had flaws and the Gospel must always be proclaimed with love.
 
The lessons from Scripture come to us as we prepare for our Lenten journey.  We are told to look inside ourselves to make sure we are doing our best to remain faithful to Christ’s teachings so we do not fall into the trap of the hypocrite.  We must always proclaim the Gospel with our words and example but in humility – we are not God.
 
These are some excellent examples for us as we embark upon our journey of penitence.
 
Pax
 
 

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[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture is “The Blind Leading the Blind” by Sebastien Vrancx, c.1620’s.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] NAB footnote on Matthew 7:1.
[6] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 396.