Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time - March 2, 2025 (Year C)

It is humbling to take to heart the words we hear each Sunday.  If you listen closely and reflect, there is always some aspect that we can take and apply.  This week, however, is a strong dose of reality, telling us to truly look inside ourselves.  Since the First Reading and the Gospel are comparable in their message, let's dig into the Second Reading first and come back to those.  

St. Paul presents us with the great dilemma that we are in as children of God - we have a finite life in our bodies here and yet we are part of the infinite glory of God's existence.  Through Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, we have had God's immortality applied to our weak and mortal bodies, and that fact should influence all of our thoughts and actions.  The path to victory has been laid out before us, and we only have to choose that life to enjoy the rewards.

And that leads us to the First Reading and the Gospel. In Sirach, we are reminded that our thoughts become our words, and the implication is that we must reorient our thoughts properly to become the good people we are supposed to be.  Even if we appear to be doing the right thing, if our thoughts stray, we jeopardize our ability to walk with the Lord.  This is what Jesus is referring to in his parable, as we must truly live in God's light to be able to help others.  Can I say that I do that all the time?  No, I have a wood beam in my eye just as the man in the Gospel.  But if I am aware of it, acknowledge it, it will allow me to heal and to grow.  But if we ignore our faults, our sins, or whatever it is holding us back, we will never make it down the path to live eternally with God and rejoice in the victory over death that Jesus has provided.

 

Disclaimer: This will be at the bottom of all reflections, but I’m not intending to put out any sort of professional critique, attempt at a homily, or investigation into the historicity of the readings, but will “let the Spirit move me” as some say, to share what has spoken to me in my reading and reflection on the set of Readings for each week.  

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