Sirach 27:4-7 / 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 / Luke 6:39-45

Today, with Mother Church, we begin the eighth week of Ordinary Time, which will be brief, as we will begin the Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Today, the evangelist Luke tells us about several of Jesus' teachings to His disciples about hypocrisy, interior life, values, and communication.

Jesus told them that if a blind person guided another blind person, both would fall into a pit, and that a disciple would not be superior to his teacher. In other words, for a person to exercise a leadership role, he must be willing to receive sufficient formation.

Jesus said that in order for a brother to be able to remove the splinter from another brother's eye, he must first see the wooden beam in his own eye and remove it. In other words, it is necessary to abandon hypocrisy, sincerely identifying one's own faults and correcting them, instead of hiding one's own defects and judging others.

Jesus said that a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit, and that every tree is known by its own fruit. In other words, a person needs to change his or her interior life so that his or her attitudes can follow change.

Jesus said that a good person out of the store of goodness in their heart produce good, because their mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart. In other words, a person communicates the values ​​that they draw from their heart. That is why it is so important to transmit good values ​​to form a moral heritage that is publicly recognized through words and attitudes.

Today the Book of Sirach also speaks to us about tree and fruit, stating that it is through speech that a person reveals themself, and advising us not to praise anyone before hearing them speak.

Generally, people reveal their interior life and values ​​while they speak. A good observer will soon notice. But there are people who are experts in deceiving innocent people through lies. Here is a piece of advice: in addition to observing what a person speaks, also observe how they act. Their attitudes reveal much more. 

Today, the apostle Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians that the sting of death is sin and that the power of sin is the law, thanking God who gives us victory through Christ, by whom death was swallowed up in victory.

The sting was a pointed rod used to drive oxen that pulled a plow or cart. Paul used the word sting to explain that sin drives to death. The apostle had already taught that the Law (of Moses), so often invoked by the Jews, only served to identify sin and condemn to death, that the law did not save anyone nor drive to eternal life. Paul says that victory over death came through Christ crucified and resurrected.

Let us be firm and steadfast, knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain.

Local: Springfield, MA, EUA

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