8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C (Mar 2, 2025)

It is so easy to notice the faults and failings of others and not give the same critical eye to ourselves. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Jesus understood our human nature and had some words of wisdom that are still as relevant for us today as it was for the community of Christians who first heard the Gospel of Luke. Some background on the third Gospel will be helpful.

Scripture scholars often look at the life situation of a sacred author and his audience because that helps us modern folk to get to the heart of the meaning behind a particular scriptural passage. Luke’s community was made up of Gentile Christians who had no background on Jewish tradition. So the Good News of Jesus Christ was fresh and new to them, with no preconceptions or expectations.

They lived in fear of Nero’s intense persecution of the Christians. The Roman emperor was a corrupt man who mismanaged his administration and apparently rigged financial affairs for his own personal benefit. The growing Christian sect was a convenient scapegoat on which to place blame and deflect attention from his own shortcomings. As Christians were arrested and thrown to the lions at the Coliseum, Luke presented his community with their most powerful weapon against persecution through the words of Jesus: “Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you.”

Mark wrote his Gospel for a community that was obsessed with a proximate parousia, a soon-to-happen second coming of Christ. That was not a concern of Luke. His community was in it for the long haul, and he was concerned for their lives in their present reality. He emphasized the importance of getting along as community. Luke rightly realized that a community united in love would spread the Gospel more effectively than a community divided by petty squabbles. Life was rough at the beginning of the new millennium. When you consider how harshly the Roman soldiers treated the people they conquered – crucifixion for petty theft! – the compassionate teachings of Jesus were truly revolutionary. They’ll know we are Christians by our love, indeed.

Jesus said with a bit of humor, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” It’s very hard to be looking around at everyone else’s faults when your vision is blocked by a wooden beam!