March 2nd, 2025 - Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

With Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent on our doorstep, I offer you a segment of a homily given by Father John Denburger from the Abbey of the Genesee, located in Piffard, New York. 

The Scripture readings today have something important to say about conversion, our personal baptismal commitment, and turning from what is sinful to turning to God, our supreme good. In all three we are called to know ourselves at a deeper level, and that might prove frightening for some, because we are all called to listen willingly to our own hearts in order to seek to know the real place of God in our lives, so that our baptismal journey will be a journey of grace. The readings this Sunday leave no room for the idea that our life of faith is just about pieties. We must never be satisfied with the status quo — Jesus’ words are very clear: “Unless your holiness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Holy Word of God today spells out for us what surpassing holiness looks like. Sirach calls us to investigate our speech. St. Paul calls us to “be firm, steadfast, always devoted to the work of the Lord.” St. Luke calls us to look to ourselves because the temptation to look for and remove the beams from the eyes of others is very enticing and extremely arrogant.