DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
MARCH 2, 2025
EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
SIRACH 27:4-7
4 When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains; so a man's filth remains in his thoughts. 5 The kiln tests the potter's vessels; so the test of a man is in his reasoning. 6 The fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so the expression of a thought discloses the cultivation of a man's mind. 7 Do not praise a man before you hear him reason, for this is the test of men.
The Word of the Lord
_
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 91(92):2-3, 13-16
Response: Lord, it is good to give thanks to thee.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to thy name, O Most High;
to declare thy steadfast love in the morning,
and thy faithfulness by night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to thee.
The righteous flourish like the palm tree,
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD,
they flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to thee.
They still bring forth fruit in old age,
they are ever full of sap and green,
to show that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to thee.
_
SECOND READING
1 CORINTHIANS 15:54-58
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The Word of the Lord
_
GOSPEL
Do you not see the log in your own eye?
LUKE 6:39-45
39 He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. 43 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The Gospel of the Lord
_
REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Seeing the speck in another's eye, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The word hypocrite is aptly employed here (Luke 6:42, Matthew 7:5), since the denouncing of evils is best viewed as a matter only for upright persons of goodwill. When the wicked engage in it, they are like impersonators, masqueraders, hiding their real selves behind a mask, while they portray another's character through the mask. The word hypocrites in fact signifies pretenders. Hence we ought especially to avoid that meddlesome class of pretenders who under the pretense of seeking advice undertake the censure of all kinds of vices. They are often moved by hatred and malice. Rather, whenever necessity compels one to reprove or rebuke another, we ought to proceed with godly discernment and caution. First of all, let us consider whether the other fault is such as we ourselves have never had or whether it is one that we have overcome. Then, if we have never had such a fault, let us remember that we are human and could have had it. But if we have had it and are rid of it now, let us remember our common frailty, in order that mercy, not hatred, may lead us to the giving of correction and admonition. In this way, whether the admonition occasions the amendment or the worsening of the one for whose sake we are offering it (for the result cannot be foreseen), we ourselves shall be made safe through singleness of eye. But if on reflection we find that we ourselves have the same fault as the one we are about to reprove, let us neither correct nor rebuke that one. Rather, let us bemoan the fault ourselves and induce that person to a similar concern, without asking him to submit to our correction."
(excerpt from Sermon on the Mount 2.19.64)
_
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.