26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wow, Jesus! Don't hold back. Why don't you tell us what's really on your mind?
Most Sundays the Gospel starts out "Jesus said to the disciples...." Then we hear a nice little story about lost sheep, or prodigal sons, or mustard seeds, or something equally pleasant that makes a point and tells us how to live better lives. Today, not so much. He hits us right between the eyes. And not just once, but a couple of times.
You may remember that at the end of last week's Gospel He was holding a little child. He told the disciples, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me", a very positive statement. Today's Gospel picks up where we left off last week. He's still holding the child and He gives them (and us) the flip side. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."
We all know that Jesus was a master at creating word pictures and this is a picture that I think we can all relate to. Imagine being thrown into the ocean with a great weight tied around your neck. You would struggle to get free, knowing that in a matter of seconds you're going to drown. But you can't escape and every effort you make to free yourself just wastes precious oxygen. Your heart is racing which uses up even more oxygen. As your lungs empty they start to burn. At some point you must realize that there's nothing you can do to save yourself and the life drains out of your body. What a nightmare!
But even that horrible death is better than what's going to happen to you if you cause one of Jesus' children to sin.
But He's not done with us yet. He goes on to deal with our own sin. "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter into life maimed, than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire." It's another graphic word picture. Did He really mean it? Was he really suggesting self-mutilation? Probably not, but He's making a pretty strong argument for not using our hands to sin. He says the same about cutting off a foot or plucking out an eye.
Losing a hand or a foot or an eye would be a terrible thing but still better than going to the bad place because of our sinfulness. "Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." Another really graphic image. But, it's an uphill fight. We're not born knowing right from wrong. We have to learn that from our parents, our teachers, and other adults in our lives. When we baptize a child the priest or deacon tells the parents, "You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him or her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him or her up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?"
Maybe we should add that if you cause this little one to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were put around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. That is what Jesus said, isn't it? But even if our parents do their part, sooner or later we're going to have to deal with a world that, frankly, doesn't care where we spend eternity. In fact, sometimes I wonder if some people have gotten this Gospel backwards. Maybe they think He said you should cause sin. An awful lot of people act that way.
But would someone deliberately cause a child to sin? Sadly, the answer is yes. Parents, we may think we're doing all we can. We try to teach them right from wrong. But what about our actions? Do we bring them to mass every Sunday? Do we set a good example by the way we act? Do we tell them not to take the Lord's name in vain, then curse the driver in the next car while our kids are sitting in the back seat? Do we tell them not to bear false witness then criticize others behind their backs, but in front of our kids? I could go on, but I think you get the point. We may not be deliberately causing them to sin, but we still do.
But, let's say we are being the best parents we can be. What about other people, what we call society? There are a lot of people who make a lot of money because of sin. Television, movies, video games. They all make money from sin. Sadly, a movie about sex and violence makes a lot more money than a movie about chastity and peaceful coexistence. Hugh Hefner is a very wealthy man.
I was listening to a talk the other day about the old Catholic Legion of Decency. Some of you will remember them. They rated movies and advised Catholics whether they should see them or not. There was actually a time, from about the 1930s to the 60s, when the movie producers were afraid of the Legion of Decency and were very careful not to make movies that didn't meet their standards. There wasn't much of a chance for a movie to make a profit if all the Catholics stayed home. Sadly, the group disbanded when they realized that people, including some Catholics, would actually go out of their way to see movies that they had banned. In fact, movie makers started to advertise that their movies had been "banned" by the Legion of Decency. Our Bishops decided that they were inadvertently helping the makers of objectionable films.
So did Jesus really mean that you would be better off going through this life maimed if it meant that you'd avoid spending eternity in the place where your "worms do not die"? Yes, I think He did. But He said you'd be better off, not that you have to do it. There are better, less painful ways to avoid sin. In fact, if the only way we can avoid sin is to start cutting off arms and legs, that says something about our internal morality. There's really not much virtue in a blind man's avoiding pornography. A man who doesn't steal because he has no hands really isn't exercising any kind of moral code. Being a true follower of Christ really demands more. Resisting peer pressure and taking a stand against immorality may seem harder sometimes than cutting off a limb.
To look at this from a positive, rather than a negative perspective, there are plenty of good books, good movies, and good television shows. They deserve our support. There are plenty of wholesome places to go for entertainment. If we fill our lives and our minds with good things, there won't be any room for the bad. One thing we can do to fill our time and our minds with something good is prayer. It's very hard to sin and pray at the same time.
This past Tuesday was the feast of St. Padre Pio. He spent ten hours per day hearing confessions and also said as many as 35 full rosaries each day. He had to be a pretty virtuous guy, just because he didn't have time to sin. Obviously he was virtuous enough to be declared a saint. But you and I aren't called to that kind of life. We have to live in a world where sin and temptation are everywhere. It's up to us to avoid the sin and fight the temptation. But we don't have to do it alone. In fact, we can't do it alone.
But with God's help and the power of prayer, we can live saintly lives and keep all our body parts intact.
Most Sundays the Gospel starts out "Jesus said to the disciples...." Then we hear a nice little story about lost sheep, or prodigal sons, or mustard seeds, or something equally pleasant that makes a point and tells us how to live better lives. Today, not so much. He hits us right between the eyes. And not just once, but a couple of times.
You may remember that at the end of last week's Gospel He was holding a little child. He told the disciples, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me", a very positive statement. Today's Gospel picks up where we left off last week. He's still holding the child and He gives them (and us) the flip side. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."
We all know that Jesus was a master at creating word pictures and this is a picture that I think we can all relate to. Imagine being thrown into the ocean with a great weight tied around your neck. You would struggle to get free, knowing that in a matter of seconds you're going to drown. But you can't escape and every effort you make to free yourself just wastes precious oxygen. Your heart is racing which uses up even more oxygen. As your lungs empty they start to burn. At some point you must realize that there's nothing you can do to save yourself and the life drains out of your body. What a nightmare!
But even that horrible death is better than what's going to happen to you if you cause one of Jesus' children to sin.
But He's not done with us yet. He goes on to deal with our own sin. "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter into life maimed, than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire." It's another graphic word picture. Did He really mean it? Was he really suggesting self-mutilation? Probably not, but He's making a pretty strong argument for not using our hands to sin. He says the same about cutting off a foot or plucking out an eye.
Losing a hand or a foot or an eye would be a terrible thing but still better than going to the bad place because of our sinfulness. "Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." Another really graphic image. But, it's an uphill fight. We're not born knowing right from wrong. We have to learn that from our parents, our teachers, and other adults in our lives. When we baptize a child the priest or deacon tells the parents, "You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him or her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him or her up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?"
Maybe we should add that if you cause this little one to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were put around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. That is what Jesus said, isn't it? But even if our parents do their part, sooner or later we're going to have to deal with a world that, frankly, doesn't care where we spend eternity. In fact, sometimes I wonder if some people have gotten this Gospel backwards. Maybe they think He said you should cause sin. An awful lot of people act that way.
But would someone deliberately cause a child to sin? Sadly, the answer is yes. Parents, we may think we're doing all we can. We try to teach them right from wrong. But what about our actions? Do we bring them to mass every Sunday? Do we set a good example by the way we act? Do we tell them not to take the Lord's name in vain, then curse the driver in the next car while our kids are sitting in the back seat? Do we tell them not to bear false witness then criticize others behind their backs, but in front of our kids? I could go on, but I think you get the point. We may not be deliberately causing them to sin, but we still do.
But, let's say we are being the best parents we can be. What about other people, what we call society? There are a lot of people who make a lot of money because of sin. Television, movies, video games. They all make money from sin. Sadly, a movie about sex and violence makes a lot more money than a movie about chastity and peaceful coexistence. Hugh Hefner is a very wealthy man.
I was listening to a talk the other day about the old Catholic Legion of Decency. Some of you will remember them. They rated movies and advised Catholics whether they should see them or not. There was actually a time, from about the 1930s to the 60s, when the movie producers were afraid of the Legion of Decency and were very careful not to make movies that didn't meet their standards. There wasn't much of a chance for a movie to make a profit if all the Catholics stayed home. Sadly, the group disbanded when they realized that people, including some Catholics, would actually go out of their way to see movies that they had banned. In fact, movie makers started to advertise that their movies had been "banned" by the Legion of Decency. Our Bishops decided that they were inadvertently helping the makers of objectionable films.
So did Jesus really mean that you would be better off going through this life maimed if it meant that you'd avoid spending eternity in the place where your "worms do not die"? Yes, I think He did. But He said you'd be better off, not that you have to do it. There are better, less painful ways to avoid sin. In fact, if the only way we can avoid sin is to start cutting off arms and legs, that says something about our internal morality. There's really not much virtue in a blind man's avoiding pornography. A man who doesn't steal because he has no hands really isn't exercising any kind of moral code. Being a true follower of Christ really demands more. Resisting peer pressure and taking a stand against immorality may seem harder sometimes than cutting off a limb.
To look at this from a positive, rather than a negative perspective, there are plenty of good books, good movies, and good television shows. They deserve our support. There are plenty of wholesome places to go for entertainment. If we fill our lives and our minds with good things, there won't be any room for the bad. One thing we can do to fill our time and our minds with something good is prayer. It's very hard to sin and pray at the same time.
This past Tuesday was the feast of St. Padre Pio. He spent ten hours per day hearing confessions and also said as many as 35 full rosaries each day. He had to be a pretty virtuous guy, just because he didn't have time to sin. Obviously he was virtuous enough to be declared a saint. But you and I aren't called to that kind of life. We have to live in a world where sin and temptation are everywhere. It's up to us to avoid the sin and fight the temptation. But we don't have to do it alone. In fact, we can't do it alone.
But with God's help and the power of prayer, we can live saintly lives and keep all our body parts intact.
posted by Mike at 4:01 PM
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