A homily for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, March 2, 2025
Sirach 27:4-7, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, Luke 6:39-45
One of the most important things an actor learns is not to play the end of a scene.
What that means is, even though actors know how the scene will end, because they have read and learned the script, they can’t display any inappropriate emotions or in any other way show they know what’s going to happen next. They can’t do or say anything — no matter how small — that telegraphs the ending. That would ruin the scene.
It’s a difficult skill to master.
Which is why this weekend tempts so many of us to look ahead to Wednesday and the 40 days of Lent that ashes signify.
Yeah, let’s say goodbye to the green and get on with the violet already.
But if we do, we miss the power of our three Scripture passages today. Each of them is a true “think piece,” and as we prepare for our season of fasting, prayer and penance, and the charitable giving of our time, talent and treasure, we owe it to ourselves to spend a little extra time with the Word.
Then we can figure out when and where to get our foreheads smudged.
Sirach warns us against making assumptions about people based on their reputations or previous actions, good or bad. Every dealer in investments similarly warns us, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” Our investments of time for charity and bringing about justice are far more valuable than any cash we stash in the stock markets. We can’t afford to waste our time hanging out with bloviators when our families, friends and all of humankind need our talents and skills and energies to be Christ to them.
Sirach asks all who hear him to think critically. Millennia have passed, but the message is still fresh.
St. Paul tells the people of Corinth — and us — that all prayer and good works done because of and in the name of Jesus lead to salvation.
Our passage today from his First Letter ends with faith and hope:
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters,
be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Paul reminds us through this letter that we’re not walking and working in the footsteps of Jesus for thanks and praise. Those, frankly, belong to God anyway. No, through this double negative, Paul reminds us that when we act as Christ’s hands on Earth, the good we do is good in itself. We don’t need championship trophies. We don’t need participation trophies. Jesus promised us our heavenly rewards, and he suffered, died and rose to seal the deal.
Then, in St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus lays it out clearly and simply: Let’s get our acts together.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
Yes, we need to show each other the right way to live, but we need to examine ourselves first. We’re of no use to anybody if we’re preaching one thing but doing the opposite — un-Christlike — thing. We’re of no use to anybody if our hearts are not fully tuned into The Law of Love.
Today’s three readings express part of God’s great plan for us. They’re like that script I mentioned, setting up the next scene, our 40-day Lenten journey.
But that scene full of figurative sackcloth and actual ashes starts in a couple of days, and there will be plenty of time to participate fully after it commences.
Until then, let’s live for now. What’s next is on the way.
As it always is…
