Gospel: March 2, 2025
March 2, 2025 (Sunday)
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)
Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
1st Reading: Sirach 27:4-7
When a sieve is shaken the dirt falls through; so, too, the defects of a man are seen when he begins to speak. The kiln tests the potter’s handiwork; a man is tested by his conversation. A well-tended tree is shown by its fruits, so a man’s feelings can be detected in what he says. Praise no one before he has spoken, since this is the acid test.
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:54-58
When our perishable being puts on imperishable life, when our mortal being puts on immortality, the word of Scripture will be fulfilled: Death has been swallowed up by victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Sin is the sting of death, to kill, and the law is what gives force to sin. But give thanks to God, who gives us the victory, through Christ Jesus, our Lord. So then, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, and do not be moved. Improve constantly, in the work of the Lord, knowing that, with him, your labor is not without fruit.
Gospel: Luke 6:39-45
And Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye, while you have a log in your eye, and are not conscious of it? How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t remove the log in your own? Your hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye. No healthy tree bears bad fruit, no poor tree bears good fruit. And each tree is known by the fruit it bears: you don’t gather figs from thorns, or grapes from brambles. Similarly, the good person draws good things from the good stored in his heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in his heart. For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.
Lectio Divina:
“To become more like our Master.”
Read: We are called to live lives of holiness and integrity so that we will bear good fruit.
Reflect: Claude Monet, the Impressionist painter famous for his many paintings of water lilies, suffered from significant sight loss in later life because of cataracts. The water lily paintings chart the changes to his sight, as the overall color of the painting shifted from blue to red and the clarity faded. Monet didn’t realize he had a problem until he compared his new paintings to his earlier ones. We might not realize that we have a bias or a blind spot when judging our own actions and attitudes until we compare them to people of good example, and especially to Christ himself. “When fully trained, [the disciple] will be like the master.” Just like doing physical exercise, we need regular spiritual exercise to become more like our Master. In this way we take on the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).
Pray: Ask the Lord to clear away the blind spots from your mind, so that you can see what needs to change in your thoughts and deeds. Ask the Lord to clear away judgmental attitudes.
Act: Having recognized judgmental attitudes, act with kindness toward someone you have been critical and have lacked compassion or understanding.
