February 27, 2022

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

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

A married couple went to confession one weekend before Mass. The woman entered the confessional when her husband stepped out. She began in the usual way, “Bless me Father for I have sinned,” and told him how long it had been since her prior confession. The priest then started to give her absolution. “But Father, I've not yet confessed my sins.” “No,” he replied, “but your husband just spent all of his time in here confessing yours already.”

Of course this would never actually happen, given the seal of the confessional – no priest would even hint at what a person said. But at our recent deacon retreat several of the guest priests shared that this is one of the issues they face in the confessional, the need for some people to complain about others rather than list their personal sins. Why is it that we are so quick to judge others harshly and yet give ourselves a pass? I think that in this last Sunday of Ordinary Time before we begin our Lenten journey to Easter we should, among other things, examine just why we are not more open about our own failings and how we can do better. Two weeks ago, we read Luke's account of the beatitudes, that is to say how we should honor and treat the less fortunate. Last week, we heard how we should treat those who do us wrong, turning the other cheek and loving our enemies. And today, we hear how we should judge ourselves, which is to say we should look to our own failing before becoming critical of others. When taken together, these readings become a good way to look to where we should focus this Lent on becoming a better Christian and more ably pick up our cross.

Hypocrite is the harsh word used in the Gospel. You don’t hear it much in polite conversation, since it carries such a negative connotation. It comes from the Greek word for an actor, someone who pretends to be someone that they really aren’t. The modern use of the term indicates that someone pretends to believe certain things but doesn’t really. I hope this doesn’t represent most people. I think that if we substitute the word hypocrite with the phrase, “someone who doesn’t always live up to the ideals that they would like themselves and those around them to live by,” we probably would be more likely to own up to it. I know I fit that description quite well. Life just gets messy and hard, and we are inclined to give ourselves a break once-in-a-while, or truth be told more than just once-in-a-while. This is why the Church prefers the word “sinner,” since this term is more useful. The Catechism of the Catholic Church only uses the term “hypocrisy” two times [three times if you count the use in the summary for one of the first two] and doesn’t use the term “hypocrite” at all, but uses the term “sinner” quite a number of times. And it should, since that is what we all are.

The first reading which is paired with this Gospel has some advice to help us come to terms with this all-too-human problem. Jesus Ben Sirach was not a prophet, but was a Jewish scholar who was famed for his wisdom, and many of his teachings were captured in the book bearing his name, which places it among the wisdom books of the Old Testament, along with other books such as Proverbs. He gives wise advice to hold our council to ourselves, since once we begin giving it out we in turn are judged by those same words. Of course you don't need to be told this by him: your mother I'm sure told you that, “If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.” Sirach knew that as soon as we start speaking, we are being judged by others, or in his words from today’s Gospel, “disclose the bent of one's mind” [Sirach 27:6 NAB]. It is interesting to note that our readings from the Lectionary come from the translation known as the New American Bible. A revised addition of this Bible, known as the New American Bible Revised Edition, was released which updated the Old Testament with the latest biblical scholarship, and it now reads, “discloses the bent of a person’s heart” [Sirach 27:6 NABRE]. I find this interesting. Is there a difference between what is in a person’s mind and in one’s heart?

When Jesus tells us to be less worried about the failings of others and more worried about the failings we ourselves have, he is referring to our habit of always knowing what “they” should do. Our modern society with its ability to rapidly transmit the views of people to a wide audience is filled with people endlessly canting about what “they” should do. Has any of it turned us into better people, let alone better Christians? No, it has made us into a group of self-righteous moralizers. I just finished a book by the Catholic philosopher and professor Peter Kreeft, and he doesn’t just say that this is the road to hell, but says that it is hell itself. He wrote: “I think in Hell we lose that contact [with God and God’s creation] and we’re all shut up within ourselves, our own nightmares. We don’t care about or love or enjoy anything real, anything objective, anything outside ourselves. I think Hell is pure egotism” [Yes of No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991, p. 132].

There will be plenty of opportunities during Lent to take stock of the wooden beams in our eyes, all they ways that our lives have tended to be thorn bushes instead of the fruitful trees that God made us to be, the many times we nurse grudges and harbor ill-will towards others that don’t meet our expectations. We will have the traditional stations of the cross on Friday evenings, with a (non-meat) soup dinner afterward to socialize. We will have a program on the fundamental questions of our faith on Wednesdays called “The Search,” which is produced by the Augustine Institute, the producers of the website Formed. We will have a parish retreat with guest speakers the first week in April, with the Lenten penance service that week as well. There is an Ecumenical Study, led by various pastors of Christian churches in our area on Thursdays at noon for those of you who can take off some time during the lunch hour. Details for all of these are in the bulletin. I would highly recommend that this Lent you go beyond just giving something up, and that you also resolve to strengthen your faith in some substantial way, helping to remove the beam that is in our eye.

As we continue with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, let us present the beams in our eyes to the Lord and ask that he enter both our hearts and our minds to give us the loving disposition of Christ that he asks of us. Let us begin in earnest preparation for his glorious resurrection where he demonstrated that love to us. Let us turn from the hell of always telling “them” what to do and instead show in word and action that we have love for our neighbor, for God, and then ultimately for ourselves.