Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C
Sirach 27: 4-7
Ps. 92
I Corinthians 15: 54-58
Luke 6: 39-45
The Scriptures intersect today on the need to make correct judgment. The First Reading, from the book of Sirach, is a proverb about discernment, which climaxes in “Praise no man before he speaks, for it is then that men are tested.” The First Reading relates to the Responsorial Psalm in the central stanza, which sings “The just man shall flourish like the palm tree, like the cedar of Lebanon shall he grow,” harkening back to the words from Sirach, “The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does a man’s speech disclose the bent of his mind.” The Gospel, too, uses a simile: “A good tree does not produce decayed fruit any more than a decayed tree produces good fruit…a good man produces goodness from the good in his heart; an evil man produces evil out of his store of evil.” The First Reading encourages one to make good judgments; the Gospel encourages us to know and judge ourselves before trying to do that to others.
The continuous reading from I Corinthians is Paul’s reflection on death, which soars to his triumphant “Thanks be to God! who has given us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ!” He immediately goes from the heights to the daily needs of his hearers by saying, “Be steadfast—fully engaged in the work of the Lord…you know your toil is not in vain when it is done in the Lord.”
This hymn is based on today’s Scriptures:
When the tree is true and healthy,
Fruit most plenteous it will bear;
When diseased, its fruit is withered,
Shriveled up from lack of care.
Life in God, if it be truthful,
Blossoms forth in peace and joy,
Bringing good from bounteous storehouse,
Scorning judgment to employ.
Living thus in Christ our Savior,
We can say, "Where, death, your sting?"
Steadfast, then, and persevering,
Toil--till life from death shall spring!
87.87.
Introit: Factus est Domine (Ps. 18: 19-20, 2-3)
The Lord has become my protector;
he has brought me forth into free and open spaces.
he delivered me because he was well pleased with me.
the Lord is my support, my refuge, my deliverer.
Offertory: Domine convertere (Ps. 6:5)
Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul;
save me for that sake of your love.
Communion: Cantabo Domino (Ps. 13:6)
I will sing to the Lord who has dealt bountifully with me.
I will praise the Name of the Lord, the Most High.
Propers from the Simple Gradual
The suite of antiphons and psalms from Ordinary Time II (BFW 230–238) —
trust and hope in God — is especially appropriate.
Entrance: BFW 230 (You, Lord, have become my defender . . .)
Response: Alleluia psalm BFW 216
Communion: BFW 237 (Let me sing to you, Lord, for all your goodness to me.)