Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 27:4-7; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45
The Book of Sirach is the source of the first reading. Sirach does not appear in the King James, or authorized, version of the Bible, the translation used by most Protestant denominations.
Protestants at times ask Catholics why Sirach “was added” to Catholic versions of the Old Testament. The better question would be, “Why did the persons responsible for the King James Bible eliminate it?”
King James I of England, VI of Scotland, a Protestant but the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, commissioned a translation of the Bible that could be used by the people, in the Anglican liturgy.
While church ecumenical, or worldwide, councils in the past had affirmed that Sirach was inspired by God, the biblical scholars in James I’s employ preferred to use an ancient Jewish listing of inspired Scriptures. They set Sirach aside.
So, many Protestants are not familiar with a version of the Bible that includes Sirach, or the “Book of Ecclesiasticus.”
As for this reading itself, its meaning is obvious in the examples of shaking the sieve, molding the clay into a vessel and tending the tree until it bears fruit.
Many circumstances in life do not just happen. Human activity deliberately shapes them. We create the reality of our lives by who we are and by what we do.
St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians gives the second reading.
The pagan, greedy and licentious atmosphere of the great city of Corinth challenged Paul again and again. No one who reads these two epistles can miss the difficulty, disappointment and exasperation that St. Paul felt in dealing with the Corinthian Christians.
He urgently, and relentlessly, stressed that Christian discipleship requires a radical conversion, a change of mind and heart that sees death not as the end, but as the beginning, not as defeat but as victory. It is not about talking the talk. It is about walking the walk.
For the Gospel reading, the church this weekend provides a passage from St. Luke’s Gospel. The readings include a series of statements of Jesus. None leaves its meaning vague or obscure. The statements are clear and straightforward.
In Paul’s day, blind people needed guides who could see, as they do today. To extend the fact, modern automobiles have headlights so that people can drive them at night. People wear artificial lenses to read.
People own what they do, what they say, and the consequences. Pointing to the faults of others neither excuses nor erases the effects of our sinfulness or foolhardiness. We must face facts and correct faults.
Finally, sick trees do not yield rich fruit. Anyone today with an apple tree in the yard knows this.
Reflection
On March 5, the church will observe Ash Wednesday, initiating the season of Lent.
The ultimate purpose of Lent is for each of us to celebrate Easter authentically — not as the anniversary of an event, the resurrection of Jesus after death, albeit an event of majesty and glory unequaled in the entirety of human history, but as a personal experience when we rise from the death of soul that is sin to life with the Lord.
Clay pitchers and goblets do not just suddenly spring into being. Neither does genuine union with the Lord. The clay with which we work is in our hearts and minds. We must mold ourselves in the pattern of the Lord.
We cannot succeed by relying on hunch, guesswork, wishes, excuses or on our blurred human vision. We need a plan with a guide. We need the Lord. He is the guide.
The process requires determination, but it is more than good intentions. We must radically, actively, commit ourselves to holiness, despite the world around us. Hence, we approach Lent.
