Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 84

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.

On this last Sunday before Lent and the ninety-day cycle of Easter, the Church offers us proverbs and sayings from Ecclesiasticus and Luke, with encouraging advice from Saint Paul's First Corinthians. The wisdom writings of the Bible, sometimes called sapiential, are less apocalyptic than the prophets and most of the New Testament. Today's readings offer a brief respite from the higher octane promises of glory and warnings of judgement. They are teachings of good advice.

Proverbs are often formulated for children, usually with a touch of poetry. Vowel and consonant rhymes, word repetition and a striking meter make them memorable, like: "A stitch in time saves nine." and "A penny saved is a penny earned."  We learned these proverbs as children and use them as adults. The Bible is full of such useful advice; some of them retain their poetry in English.

The wise man Jesus ben Sirach, in today's first reading, urges his pupils to pay attention to what they say.

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;

so do one's faults when one speaks.

We might summarize three of his verses with our own saying, "Think before you speak." How many times have you been amazed to hear people speak before they thought about what they were saying? It's shocking how stupidly some people talk. Professional politicians learn the weight and meaning of words early in their careers, realizing that anything they say will be remembered forever. Amateur politicians boast of their straight talk, although it is essentially meaningless. We learn not to listen to them, especially when they say, "To tell you the truth...." They won't remember what they said; why should we?

Like the first reading, today's gospel is a collection of wise teachings from the Master and his "Sermon on the Plain." However, Jesus' proverbs address the challenges of the New Testament, which are not quite the same as the Old. Both are inspired by the Word of God, but the New includes a missionary outreach to the nations.

First, he reminds us of the nature of discipleship and that we are always disciples. The best we can hope is to be "fully trained" and "like the teacher." "Can a blind person guide a blind person?" The disciple of Jesus realizes she is blindly setting out into uncharted territory almost daily. 

The first Christian missionaries entered a world that had never heard the Gospel. We address a world that thinks they know the Gospel, which is even more difficult in some ways. And so we need the Holy Spirit to guide us as Jesus guided his disciples during his mortal years.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?

In the usage of the New Testament a "sister" or "brother" is a fellow Christian, never a non-believer. So the missionary's first duty is to maintain good relations in and with the Church. A divided Church has nothing to say to the world. And a conflicted disciple has nothing to say to his sistren and brethren. "Remove the wooden beam from your eye first!" The missionary who is unaware of her own faults is as foolish as Sirach's careless speaker. She should share her hope of salvation, not the premature announcement that she has already been saved.

Finally, there is critically important advice,

"A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,

nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit."

If a member is causing harm in the church it's not because he's a good person. We might hesitate to judge but we do have to make certain adjustments. The Catholic Church is not the only church that is learning the best place for some of our members is prison. After we have taken care of that we can address the scandal and trauma of our people.

Our second reading today addresses the mystery of death and the promise of victory over death. Unlike our secular society, death and judgement are always linked in our religion:

The sting of death is sin,

and the power of sin is the law.

But we have no fear of death as the Spirit guides us daily:

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.