As with last week’s readings, this 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time is
usually usurped by other feast days, but since Easter is somewhat late
this year, we get to finish out this stretch of Ordinary Time with some
readings we rarely get to hear during Sunday Mass…
The Word for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Luke 6:17, 27-38
Our first reading comes from the book of Sirach, also known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira, a great sage from Jerusalem who embraced the Wisdom tradition. The work was originally finished around 175 BCE and was later translated into Greek by the author’s grandson sometime after 117 BCE during the Jewish diaspora that flourished in the later Ancient Greek Empire. Since our earliest manuscripts for this book were found in Greek, it does not hold the same canonical status for Jews and Protestants, but more recent archeological finds have verified it’s Hebrew origins. Like all Wisdom literature in the Bible, Sirach serves as a kind of ancient catechism. In fact, one to the names for this book, Liber Ecclesiasticus translates as “church book.” Given its date and origin, it would have been widely known to Jews during the time of Jesus. Like a lot of Wisdom literature, it uses common sense lessons and phrases as a way to teach us how to live out God’s Law. In our short passage for this week, we are taught that a person’s speech and actions can teach us about what is in their minds and hearts. In other words, when tested, one’s true nature is reveled. One such test is seen through our responsorial Psalm as we sing, “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” Those who give thanks to the Lord are those whose hearts know what is right.
Jesus takes up this same topic this week in our Gospel from Luke. Picking up from where we left off last week (love your enemies, stop judging and you will not be judged), Jesus concludes his “Sermon on the Plain” by giving us a parable. Jesus asks, “Can a blind person guide a blind person?” He uses the example of trying to remove a splinter from your brother’s eye when you can’t see past the wooden beam in your own eye. In other words, one cannot preach justice if one is biased. He concludes the parable by teaching us that we cannon get good fruit from a rotten tree, a lesson also found in Sirach when he says “the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” Our true nature will always come out.
Our second reading takes us toward the close of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In our study of this letter over the past several weeks, Paul has been teaching us how, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we share in his salvation. In his conclusion to this discussion, he teaches that Jesus’ resurrection is the victory over death. That those who believe in the Lord and follow Jesus will in the end also concur death.
Final Thoughts:
We’ve only just begun our journey through Jesus’ ministry and he has already revealed some of his most important, and some would say, some of his most difficult teachings. To bless those who curse you. To turn the other cheek when slapped. To give your tunic to the person who steals your cloak. To judge not least we be judged, and to remove our own biases before we speak of the biases of others. Through these teachings Jesus is showing us how to, in essence, practice what we preach. The hypocrisy of the Temple leadership demonstrated for Jesus how the people of God had gone astray. The only thing that is new about what Jesus is teaching is the source of that teaching. Jesus is no ordinary prophet, and while the people are beginning to figure this out, they don’t yet understand how this story will ultimately play out. We, of course, do know how this story plays out, which is what we will now be focusing on as we prepare for the beginning of Lent.
The Word for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Luke 6:17, 27-38
Our first reading comes from the book of Sirach, also known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira, a great sage from Jerusalem who embraced the Wisdom tradition. The work was originally finished around 175 BCE and was later translated into Greek by the author’s grandson sometime after 117 BCE during the Jewish diaspora that flourished in the later Ancient Greek Empire. Since our earliest manuscripts for this book were found in Greek, it does not hold the same canonical status for Jews and Protestants, but more recent archeological finds have verified it’s Hebrew origins. Like all Wisdom literature in the Bible, Sirach serves as a kind of ancient catechism. In fact, one to the names for this book, Liber Ecclesiasticus translates as “church book.” Given its date and origin, it would have been widely known to Jews during the time of Jesus. Like a lot of Wisdom literature, it uses common sense lessons and phrases as a way to teach us how to live out God’s Law. In our short passage for this week, we are taught that a person’s speech and actions can teach us about what is in their minds and hearts. In other words, when tested, one’s true nature is reveled. One such test is seen through our responsorial Psalm as we sing, “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” Those who give thanks to the Lord are those whose hearts know what is right.
Jesus takes up this same topic this week in our Gospel from Luke. Picking up from where we left off last week (love your enemies, stop judging and you will not be judged), Jesus concludes his “Sermon on the Plain” by giving us a parable. Jesus asks, “Can a blind person guide a blind person?” He uses the example of trying to remove a splinter from your brother’s eye when you can’t see past the wooden beam in your own eye. In other words, one cannot preach justice if one is biased. He concludes the parable by teaching us that we cannon get good fruit from a rotten tree, a lesson also found in Sirach when he says “the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” Our true nature will always come out.
Our second reading takes us toward the close of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In our study of this letter over the past several weeks, Paul has been teaching us how, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we share in his salvation. In his conclusion to this discussion, he teaches that Jesus’ resurrection is the victory over death. That those who believe in the Lord and follow Jesus will in the end also concur death.
Final Thoughts:
We’ve only just begun our journey through Jesus’ ministry and he has already revealed some of his most important, and some would say, some of his most difficult teachings. To bless those who curse you. To turn the other cheek when slapped. To give your tunic to the person who steals your cloak. To judge not least we be judged, and to remove our own biases before we speak of the biases of others. Through these teachings Jesus is showing us how to, in essence, practice what we preach. The hypocrisy of the Temple leadership demonstrated for Jesus how the people of God had gone astray. The only thing that is new about what Jesus is teaching is the source of that teaching. Jesus is no ordinary prophet, and while the people are beginning to figure this out, they don’t yet understand how this story will ultimately play out. We, of course, do know how this story plays out, which is what we will now be focusing on as we prepare for the beginning of Lent.
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