Cycle C - Year II:  

27 February 2022: Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Sirach 27:4-7

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 15:54-58

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 6:39-45 

"From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks!"

Criticism is just another way of praising ourselves. We tend to easily see the faults of others but turn a blind eye to our own.

This Sunday's Gospel proclamation tells about the right conduct in dealing with the shortcomings of others.  Our Lord Jesus spoke about criticism, judgment and weak character using parables which employ images common to His time.  And He tells about the human tendency to have "splinters and wooden beams in our eyes" that keep us from seeing the whole picture in judging others. The lesson our Lord wants to impart is part of the formation of those who want to follow Him as disciples.

This is the third and final section of St. Luke's Sermon on the Plain.  Jesus tells His disciples three parables and they are all about how to be good disciples.

Our human nature has the tendency to guide and correct people. But it can be a common weakness to judge others while not recognizing our own faults and need for God's mercy.  For there is always a strong temptation in us to be quick to see the flaws in others.

Jesus does not deny that people have failings, but He invites us to look to our own blind spots first. And we become hypocrites if we are concerned only with the splinters of one's eye and do not recognize our own self-blinding plank.

Do we pass judgment with arrogance and pride?

Now Jesus does not prohibit us from correcting those who err or are in a sinful state. But then our Lord wants that in passing judgment we should do so in the spirit of prayer, great humility, compassion, and love. For "from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."    (Lk 6:45)

God sees each of us from the inside. Our heavenly Father sees us with a generous and compassionate gaze and does not despise or condemns us for our shortcomings and failings.

The first reading from the Book of Sirach admonishes us to be prudent with our words and actions, which we can apply in correcting the faults of others.

Also, in the Second Reading, Paul explains to the community of Corinth that those who believe in the resurrection of Christ must be firm and steadfast, and devote themselves to the work of the Lord. So that following Jesus is to spread the Good News with compassion and love for others.

Let us pray in the Eucharist at Mass for grace to be loving and forgiving: Lord, make me more aware of my own inadequacies so that I may become gentle in dealing with others. Make me gaze at my erring brethren kindly as You do, our heavenly Father. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!