MASS READINGS FOR 8TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
QUINQUAGESIMA (BCP)
First reading Sirach 27:4-7
‘Do not praise a man before you hear him reason.’
When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears; so a person’s filth in his thoughts. The kiln tests the potter’s vessels; likewise the test of a person is in his reasoning. The fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so the expression of a thought discloses the cultivation of a person’s mind.
Do not praise a man before you hear him reason, for this is the test of people.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 92(91):2-3. 13-14. 15-16. ℟ cf. 2a
It is good to give thanks to you, O Lord.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your loving mercy in the morning,
and your truth in the watches of the night.
It is good to give thanks to you, O Lord.
The just one 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.
It is good to give thanks to you, O Lord.
Still bearing fruit when they are old,
still full of sap, still green,
to proclaim that the Lord is upright.
In him, my rock, there is no wrong.
It is good to give thanks to you, O Lord.
Second reading
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
‘He gives us the victory through Jesus Christ.’
Brothers and Sisters: 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.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
Gospel Acclamation
Philippians 2:15d, 16a
Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine as lights in the world,
holding fast to the word of life.
Alleluia.
Gospel Luke 6:39-45
‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.’
At that time: Jesus told his disciples a parable: ‘Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 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? 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.
‘For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.’
