Previously in the 8th Sunday gospel, Jesus admonishes his disciples to not be blind to their own faults and failing before they are too enthusiastic about pointing out the faults and failings of others. What follows is practical advice about discernment since the intentions and heart of a person are harder to discern:

⁴³ “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. ⁴⁵ 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.

Perhaps the famous portion of the 8th Sunday gospel is the simile of the splinter and the wooden beam.  ⁴¹ Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.

This expression did not originate with Jesus. Nor was Aristotle likely the first to give voice to the common expectation that those who reprove others ought not suffer from the same shortcoming. In one form or another, it seems every culture has a similar admonition.  In context it resonates with the caution not to judge others in the preceding section (vv. 37–38). Taken independently, the parable exposes the common human predilection to point out even the slightest faults in others while being blind to our own, even though they may be much greater (cf. Matt 7:3–5).

Our gospel for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time is situated at the end of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain.” It begins simply: “And he told them a parable…” (v.39) Interestingly, nothing that follows is actually considered a parable; all are better seen as wisdom sayings, proverbs or similes. Be that as it may, the purpose of this part of the sermon is clear. Luke signals a change of direction within Jesus’ discourse and draws Sermon to a close with a call to add obedience to the hearing of Jesus’ message. In verses 43-49 the word “(to) do” appears five times and becomes the catchword along with “doing good” that appeared earlier in the sermon. Herein appears a principal call of Luke-Acts: the practical demand of the gospel with emphasis on behavior – not a sole emphasis – but highlighted nonetheless. The issue is one of character and commitments becoming action in the life of the believer. To attempt to separate character – commitment – action is to succumb to hypocrisy (vv.41-42,46). A person’s heart will be revealed by the fruit of their actions (v.44).

This coming Sunday is the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle C. An astute observer will notice that in Ordinary Time, depending on the year, we “skip” several Sunday liturgies between the portions of Ordinary Time that come before and after the Lent/Triduum/Easter cycle. The skips are not consistent from year to year. For example, in Ordinary Time of 2022, we omitted 4 Sundays (9th through 12th). In 2023, we omitted only 3 Sundays (8th through 10th). Why the variation you might ask?

While Christmas Day is affixed to December 25, the date of Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25, as it is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Therefore, Ash Wednesday, which precedes Easter Sunday by 46 days, can fall anywhere between the 4th and 10th Weeks of Ordinary Time. In 2025 Easter falls a little later and so this is one of those years when we celebrate the 8^th Sunday.