Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Feb 24

Processional Hymn - God of Day and God of Darkness

God of day and God of darkness,
Now we stand before the night.
As the shadows stretch and deepen,
Come and make our darkness bright.
All creation still is groaning
For the dawning of your might.
When the Sun of peace and justice
Fills the earth with radiant light.

Still the nations curse the darkness,
Still the rich oppress the poor.
Still the earth is bruised and broken
By the ones who still want more.
Come and wake us from our sleeping,
So our hearts cannot ignore
All your people lost and broken,
All your children at our door.

You shall be the path that guides us;
You the light that in us burns.
Shining deep within all people,
Yours the love that we must learn.
For our hearts shall wander restless
'Til they safe to you return.
Finding you in one another,
We shall all your face discern.

Praise to you in day and darkness,
You our source and you are end;
Praise to you who love and nurture
As a father, mother, friend.
Grant us all a peaceful resting,
Let each mind and body mend,
So we rise refreshed tomorrow,
Hearts renewed to kingdom tend.

1st Reading – Sirach 27:4-7

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.
As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in tribulation is the test of the just.
The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind.
Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 92

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you, to give thanks to you.

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.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you, to give thanks to you.

The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, and grown like a Lebanon cedar.
Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you, to give thanks to you.

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.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you, to give thanks to you.

2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:54-58

Brothers and sisters:
When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:

Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, 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 firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Gospel – Luke 6:39-45

Jesus told his disciples a parable:
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
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.
A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
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.”

Prayer for Our Lady of Angels Parish

Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through your Son, Jesus, with the great mission of evangelizing and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother, and ask for her intercession and guidance, as we strive to build a parish that loves God, embraces all people, and shares the Gospel joyfully.

Amen.

Offertory Hymn - Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly-minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descending,
Comes our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heav’nly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descending
From the realms of endless day,
Comes, the pow’rs of hell to vanquish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
“Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!”