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8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 27 February 2022 Note: Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I had been compiled for you after the Mass Readings below. Happy Reading! Liturgical Colour: Green.
Readings at Mass: See below or EWTN, USCCB.
First Reading: Ecclesiasticus 27:5-8 The test of a man is in his conversation
In a shaken sieve the rubbish is left behind, so too the defects of a man appear in his talk. The kiln tests the work of the potter, the test of a man is in his conversation. The orchard where a tree grows is judged on the quality of its fruit, similarly a man’s words betray what he feels. Do not praise a man before he has spoken, since this is the test of men.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91(92):2-3,13-16 It is good to give you thanks, O Lord.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord to make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your truth in the watches of the night.
The just will flourish like the palm-tree and grow like a Lebanon cedar.
Planted in the house of the Lord they will flourish in the courts of our God, still bearing fruit when they are old, still full of sap, still green, to proclaim that the Lord is just. In him, my rock, there is no wrong.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 Death is swallowed up in victory
When this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Never give in then, my dear brothers, never admit defeat; keep on working at the Lord’s work always, knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be labouring in vain.
Gospel Acclamation cf. Acts 16:14 Alleluia, alleluia! Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son. Alleluia!
Or: Philippians 2:15-16 Alleluia, alleluia! You will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 6:39-45 Can the blind lead the blind?
Jesus told a parable to his disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye. ‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.’
Acknowledgment: We thank the Publisher for allowing us to publish the Mass Readings to be used as reference for Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I as a source of God’s encouragements to all of us around the World.
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Homilies, Angelus / Regina Caeli
1998 & 2004 had entered the Lenten Season.
1. "Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son".
The invocation of the Gospel Acclamation introduces us to today's theme for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Jesus is the true Teacher, who communicates the truth of salvation to mankind. Those who listen to him are invited to "understand", that is, to receive his words into their hearts and translate them into concrete decisions in life.
Jesus not only imparts teaching that comes from God, but is above all the Model on which to pattern ourselves; he did not leave us simply a collection of teachings to learn; above all, he showed us the path to take, offering himself as an example to follow.
Let us therefore open our hearts to him: we will thus enter into the mystery of his love, which enlightens all existence.
2. "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully taught will be like his teacher" (Luke 6: 40).
By following Christ, our divine Teacher, we learn that to be his disciples we must follow him especially in his ability to love, just as he describes in the passages from Luke's Gospel which we are reading on these Sundays. The heart of his message is precisely love, even love for one's enemies, which knows no revenge and offers pardon; it is mercy and the willingness to love always, even at the cost of one's life, like God himself (cf. Luke 6: 27-38).
This is the teaching to accept and faithfully transmit. This is the only school that forms authentic missionaries of the Gospel, who are called to be wise and sure guides for their brothers (cf. Luke 6: 39).
5. "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? " (Luke 6: 41).
With these words Jesus gives us helpful guidance that we could call "pastoral". Unfortunately, we are often tempted to condemn the faults and sins of others, without being able to see our own with the same clarity. How then can we know if our own eye is free or if it is hampered by a log? Jesus replies: "Each tree is known by its own fruit" (Luke 6: 44).
This sound discernment is the Lord's gift and should be sought with unceasing prayer. At the same time, it is a personal victory that requires humility and patience, the ability to listen and an effort to understand others.
These must be the characteristics of every true disciple and involve commitment as well as a spirit of sacrifice. If it can sometimes seem difficult to follow the Lord on this path, let us rely on Mary's support and intercession.
In the facade of your church there is an arch set in the main body of the building. It recalls the Blessed Virgin, the Dawn of Salvation, always ready to embrace her children and lead them into church to meet Christ.
May she, the Virgin of silence and listening, help us to be courageous witnesses and proclaimers of the Gospel; may she make us look at others with eyes of understanding and kindness; may she obtain for us the gift of wise pastoral prudence.
And you, Lord, open our hearts; then we will understand your words of salvation. Amen! Pope Saint John Paul II (Homily, 25 February 2001)
1. The recent Consistory for the creation of 44 new Cardinals, a few weeks after the conclusion of the Holy Year, will surely be recorded in the Church's annals. I would like to reflect once again on this event and its significance, which concerns not only the new Cardinals and the Ecclesial Communities from which they come, but the entire family of God and its mission in the world today.
The Christian people have been filled in a way with a breath of renewed hope. During the Jubilee and in these recent days we have heard the powerful invitation to set our gaze on the future. The Church looks ahead and wants "to put out into the deep", enlivened by the spiritual energy inspired within her by the Jubilee experience. This energy can only strengthen and enrich the elements that belong, so to speak, to the Ecclesial Community's genetic code: its unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity. The increase in the College of Cardinals, while showing the unity of the Ecclesial Body around the Successor of Peter, stresses its catholic dimension reflected in the fact that the Cardinals come from every part of the world.
2. The question arises: how can the Church remain faithful to her vocation at a time when the dominant culture often seems contrary to the demanding logic of the Gospel? This question is symbolically answered by the red colour of the Cardinals' robes. They recall, as you know, the blood of the martyrs, who bore witness to Christ even to the supreme sacrifice. By their lives Cardinals must visibly show a love for Christ that does not shrink from any sacrifice. Their example will encourage all Christians generously to serve the divine Master and to feel that they are living members of his one Mystical Body which is the Church.
A necessary condition for this demanding task is devout contemplation of the Lord's face. I wrote this in the Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte and I have had many occasions to reaffirm it. For, if there is no listening to the word of God, if prayer and interior contact with the Lord grow weak, it is easy to fall into a sterile activism, which unfortunately is a frequent risk, particularly in our day.
3. Let us invoke the special assistance of Mary, Mother of the Church, for the new Cardinals. As we recite the Angelus together, let us ask her to obtain for all believers a generous impulse to bear more convinced and faithful witness to the Gospel. Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 25 February 2001)
Not applicable. 2007, 2010 & 2013 had entered the Lenten Season.
2016: Not applicable, it had entered the Lenten Season.
Extracts: Today’s Gospel passage presents brief parables with which Jesus seeks to indicate to his disciples the path to follow in order to live wisely. With the question: can a blind man lead a blind man?” (Luke 6:39), he wishes to emphasize that a leader cannot be blind, but must see clearly, that is, he must have wisdom in order to lead wisely, otherwise he risks causing damage to the people who are entrusted to him. Jesus thus calls attention to those who have educational responsibility or who govern: spiritual pastors, public authorities, legislators, teachers, parents, exhorting them to be aware of their delicate role and to always discern the right path on which to lead people.
How can we understand if our view is clear or if it is obstructed by a log? And again Jesus tells us so: “no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit” (vv. 43-44). The fruits are actions but also words. A tree’s quality can also be understood from words. Indeed, those who are good draw good from their hearts and their mouths, and those who are bad draw bad, by practicing the most damaging exercise among us, which is grumbling, gossiping, speaking ill of others. This destroys. It destroys the family, destroys school, destroys the workplace, destroys the neighbourhood. Wars begin from the tongue. Let us consider a bit this lesson of Jesus and ask ourselves the question: do I speak ill of others? Do I always seek to tarnish others? Is it easier for me to see others’ flaws than my own? And let us try to correct ourselves at least a little: it will do us all good. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 3 March 2019)
Daily Blessings to You from Emmanuel Goh & Friends
Note: This webpage has many hyperlinks to the Vatican Webpage. The above extracts were compiled for your easy reading. This Publication is aimed to encourage all of Goodwill around the World. It is not for business or profit purposes but it is our way to thank our Creator for His continuous blessings!
Compiled on 24 February 2019 Last updated : 25 February 2022, 8:50 SGT
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