Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons 2 March 2025

Battle between Carnival and Lent - Pieter Bruegel

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 84

"Praise no one before he speaks,

for it is then that people are tested". (Sirach 27:7)

These words at the end of our first reading have an irony that none of us can be unaware of in terms of the geo-political situations in our world, and in particular the scene of unguarded and heated words, all unnecessary bullying, by a president and his vice president towards another head of state. I do not need to comment on this as it a scene that has already changed our world and made us that much more fragile, but it points to those words of the profound wisdom found in Sirach.

We are a people of too much noise, too much talk, a lot of it idle speculation and of a propensity to accept lies rather that determine whether things are truthful. The singular image given us by Sirach of a sieve being shaken to separate things out, underscores this image of the final discovery of truth, so that it becomes a clear picture in our eyes and minds;

"When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;

so do people's faults when they speak."(Sirach 27:4)

This may be of little consolation to anybody who is suffering at the moment ,in the middle of that confusing process of being shaken up; nevertheless, this sifting of ourselves is important for us at certain moments of our lives. Truth brings clarity, knowledge and a choice to change. The inordinate amount of lies permeating our culture, and yes the media has a lot to blame for this, does need tackling by good people, especially by the disciples of Jesus, who have in Him the way, the truth, and the life!(John 14:6)

We are just about to begin Great Lent, this year all our traditions are aligned, my own Byzantine Greek Catholics, like our Orthodox sisters and brothers begin Great Lent on this Sunday called Forgiveness Sunday, with Forgiveness Vespers where we ask God and each other to forgive us our sins and so begin Lent in a state of grace-filled repentance. There is no formal day as the Latin Rite has of an Ash Wednesday, which again, this coming week, places us into that special intense spiritual period of self reflection, penance, alms giving, fasting and acts of love.

Whatever type of `Catholic' we are, Lent is a period of truth telling to ourselves. A time to halt the noise, be still awhile, and listen to the Spirit of God, present in our lives and in our hearts. That is why the gospel of Luke this Sunday is so apt, coupled with the stark and brief admonitions of Sirach, for these words of Jesus should point us in the direction we now have to take, a road less travelled by many. The route of the `Gospel which produces in us the inner fruits of goodness:' 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'.(Luke 6:45)

M Scott Peck, who in 1983 wrote the book: People of the Lie: human hope for Healing People, part of his trilogy on human psychology, health and religion, probed in this work not only the question, but the essence of human evil. Despite criticism, I have always found his works invaluable and turn to them from time to time as they help me discern the presence of evil in life and in recognising it also discern the presence of truth. In Lent of course we are bound to face evil and called to engage in spiritual warfare against it, mainly by prayer, and with the help of the disciplines of our tradition like charity and fasting. We have our spiritual guides, that is why a good Lent reading book is an important aid, for it is in this time of listening and learning, as M Scott Peck wrote:

'We must be willing to fail and to appreciate the truth that often

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived'.

But in all this we have the promises of the Lord Jesus who assures us that evil will not vanquish this earth, as the first letter of John tells us: 'For this reason Christ was revealed: to destroy all the works of the evil one'.(I John 3:8) It is his resurrection that is the victory over sin and death. We his disciples need to refocus on this a little bit, to sharpen our minds and see clearly. Called to be children of light we are to challenge the people of the lie, call them out, but before we do so, prepare ourselves with examination of conscience and acknowledgement of sins-that we may be pardoned:' How can you say to your brother or sister, ' 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 or sister's eye".(Luke 6:42)

Called to check our words, listen more and discern the truth, may our celebration Great Lent be a time, when alone and together, we discover the truth of Christ's voice amongst us!

LECTIO

Extract from the Homily of Pope Francis - Basilica St Sabina - Ash Wednesday 2024

'Sister, brother, I, you, each of us, is loved with an eternal love. We are ashes on which God has breathed his breath of life, we are the earth which he has shaped with his own hands (cf. Gen 2:7; Ps 119:73), dust from which we will rise for a life without end prepared for us from all eternity (cf. Is 26:9). And if, in the ashes that we are, the fire of the love of God burns, then we will discover that we have indeed been shaped by that love and called to love others in turn. To love the brothers and sisters all around us, to be considerate to others, to feel compassion, to show mercy, to share all that we are and all that we have with those in need.

Almsgiving, prayer and fasting are not mere external practices; they are paths that lead to the heart, to the core of the Christian life. They make us realize that we are ashes loved by God, and they enable us to spread that love on the "ashes" of so many situations in our daily lives, so that in them hope, trust and joy may be reborn.

Saint Anselm of Aosta has left us these words of encouragement that this evening we can make our own: "Escape from your everyday business for a short while, hide for a moment from your restless thoughts. Break off from your cares and troubles and be less concerned about your tasks and labours. Make a little time for God and rest a while in him. Enter into your mind's inner chamber. Shut out everything but God and whatever helps you to seek him; and when you have shut the door, look for him. Speak now to God and say with your whole heart: I seek your face; your face, O Lord, I desire" (Proslogion, 1).

Thought for the week

M Scott Peck

'Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will -- namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love'.