Today's readings are Number 11: 25-29; Psalm 19; James 5: 1-6 and Luke 9:38-48
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Mk. 9: 38-45, 47-48
A scene frequently depicted in many hospital television dramas centres upon a patient arriving at the hospital without a heartbeat. Very quickly the ER doctors and nurses begin using 2 electric pads that shock the heart to resume beating again. This form of electric shock therapy delivers quite a jolt to both the heart and body, as they try to bring the patient back to life.
I trust that if you listened attentively to today's 2nd reading and gospel you received another form of shock therapy – because both readings contain messages that are jolting, with St. James and Jesus using some very strong images and language. St. James rages against the rich in the ways they have exploited the poor, and he warns of the miseries that will come to them. And then Jesus invokes images of the cutting off of hands and feet, and tearing out of eyes. Why all the graphic language? For a very good reason – both of them want to bring us back to life in a spiritual, social, and emotional sense, by getting us to wake up and scrutinize the full reality of our lives.
A constant message found throughout the Bible is that our actions have consequences – sometimes good, and sometimes bad. These actions can be individual, done by one person, or they can be collective, involving the whole community or nation. And the consequences that result in both cases affect not just ourselves, but others. As St. Paul reminds us in Romans 14, "The life and death of each of us has its influence on others". Who we are and how we act is very much determined by the various people who have shaped our lives. For example, psychologists and psychiatrists will tell you that a large number of the issues of the patients they treat find their origins in the patient's childhood – particularly what was done to them, or not done for them, by their parents.
In the 2nd half of today's gospel, Jesus challenges each one of us to examine the reality of our own individual lives and to do so with brutal honesty. Are there attitudes, dispositions with us that are preventing oneself from truly becoming the person God is calling us to be? Is there at least one root sin, so to speak, that is producing painful consequences for yourself and others? Maybe a prejudice, an extreme selfishness, or one of the 7 deadly sins: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy or sloth? Whatever it may be, Jesus urges us to identify it, and then cut it off, get rid of it, or at least do our best to keep it in check. Because it could lead to our own personal demise as well as causing great harm to others.
On a collective level, Jesus is asking us to wake up and recognize those things in our world that are life-denying, that are destructive and cause suffering. For example, when the poor and marginalized are exploited by practices and policies of the ruling elite; or when a government enacts laws that go against the principle of defending life from conception until death; or if it institutes economic policies that that damage the environment; or when we turn a blind eye to the plight of refugees throughout the world, then as people of faith we are called work for change. On the other hand, as Christians we are also called to recognize and support those things in our society that are life giving. So, when initiatives are brought forth from within by, say, the local community or government, such as affordable housing initiatives or the selling of fair-trade products, then we should support them, because of the positive results that will be for the benefit of all.
When we go back to today's gospel, what is Jesus trying to get us to understand? First, we need to remember that we are responsible for own well-being, and for the well-being of each other. We do not live in isolation – we live in community, and our lives are intermingled in all kinds of ways. This is one of the fundamental reasons why both the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and our Cardinal Archbishop Thomas Collins urge us to get fully vaccinated against Covid. As Pope Francis said in a statement on August 18, 2021, getting the vaccination that is “Authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love. Love for oneself, love for our families and friends, and love for all peoples ... Getting vaccinated is a simple yet profound way to care for one another, especially the most vulnerable.”
Secondly, nothing drives Jesus crazier that to see us not living up to our potential, for own benefit and the benefit of all. God has been so good to us, and given us so many talents to make so much good happen in this world. But the reality of sin, both individual and collective, prevents us from unleashing that full potential in our own lives and in the life of our families, our parish, our community, our world. Jesus is saying, "WAKE UP - get rid of that stuff!" For Jesus knows what the possibilities might be if we only became what we could be. Sir Edmund Burke quote - "the only thing necessary for evil to spread is for good people to do nothing." Remember this – God doesn't call you to be good – God calls you to be great! And God needs us to be great. Our world needs us to be great. Are we willing to set aside the sinfulness in our lives and dare to be great?