Scripture readings for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Sirach 27:4-7
Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
Luke 6:39-45
Have we been paying attention? For the last couple weeks, the Sunday scriptures have given us a healthy dose of what is commonly called “The Sermon on the Plain” – Luke’s version of the more famous “Sermon on the Mount” found in Matthew. The lessons have been familiar – but strikingly direct.
What we hear is Jesus speaking directly to his disciples – the word “you” pops up a lot – while giving explicit instructions on how to live as his disciples. It’s not easy listening.
Jesus has advised to love your enemies, pray for your persecutors, give away your cloak. This Sunday’s excerpt adds to that a lesson against hypocrisy: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own…You hypocrite!” And he concludes: “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good.”
We get a sense of a summation here – a broad but incisive conclusion – and maybe the Church has given us these readings at this moment for a significant reason. The time we call “ordinary” is drawing to a close. Wednesday, we begin Lent. A journey of prayer, fasting and almsgiving is about to start.
You might consider these Gospel readings as lessons for the road.
Have we been paying attention?
What we’ve been hearing these last few weeks is something more than filler, biding the time between Christmas and Lent. These teachings are foundational – and among the most challenging for anyone who might claim the label “Christian.”
There have been lessons about mercy and compassion, about forgiveness and understanding. We’ve heard warnings about material success and living in physical comfort. And this Sunday, the disciples hear about the hazards of judging others. There’s been a lot to absorb, and much to leave listeners both inspired and convicted. A prevailing message is this simple but necessary reminder: being a disciple isn’t easy.
Be prepared to be challenged.
Be prepared to need to change.
That seems a very good theme to carry with us as we get ready to have our brows stained with ashes. These are ideas we should all carry with us in prayer as we begin the walk toward Calvary and, beyond that, to Easter.
The weeks ahead will be days for reflection, for sacrifice, for giving and for forgiving. Lent is a good time for taking stock – and taking a fearless inventory of our own shortcomings. Weeks before spring actually arrives, it’s an opportunity to begin some spiritual spring cleaning – to examine our consciences, measure our days, give up bad habits and sinful attachments and, ultimately, give more of ourselves to those in need.
If you’re looking for some robust spiritual reading for Lent, look no further than the Gospels we’ve encountered these past few weeks from Luke. “The Sermon on the Plain” can serve as a handy reminder of what we are called to do, and who we are called to follow – Jesus even advises us to work to “be perfect as the Father is perfect!”
In a few days, we will present ourselves to be marked, to declare to the world that we are fallen people in need of redemption, imperfect and sinful souls embarking on a project to be better, to do better, to live better, to love better – all in anticipation of the most important event in human history, Easter. We work to be prepared. We pray to be ready. We know we can never be worthy.
But we can try to get there.
As we turn the page on Ordinary Time and prepare to enter the extraordinary season that is Lent, Jesus has been giving us pointers for the days to come. Things to look for. Pitfalls to avoid. Attitudes to adjust.
Have we been paying attention?
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
