Pastor's Letter 20200830 - 30 August 2020 - Love Implies Sacrifice

[Father Michael]

August 30^th, 2020

22nd Sunday, Ordinary Time

Today’s Theme: “Love Implies Sacrifice”

“Get behind Me, Satan!”

 

A Message from Father ^†Michael

 

Scripture Note

Jeremiah’s faithfulness to God is expressed in our First Reading, today (Jeremiah 20:7-9.)  Even though spreading God’s Message had brought him nothing but insults, he was unable to remain silent.  Nonetheless, his God-given mission has been costly to him, and serves as one example of how being faithful to Jesus demands much of anyone who would follow Him.

 ^†Paul cautions his listeners not to live as the people do in the areas around them (Romans 12:1-2.)  Rather, he urges them to give themselves over to God, and in so doing, realize what His will for them entails. 

The words of our Gospel, today, are shocking, upon first hearing (Matthew 16:21-27.)   Jesus' upbraiding of ^†Peter: “Get behind, Me, Satan!” must seem unduly stern.  Having only recently proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, no doubt he succumbed to the popular notion that the Messiah would be a great “military” leader, restoring Israel to its former greatness—in the manner of another King (David;) One Who would rescue the people from oppression.  But this wasn’t Jesus’ idea of the Messiah.

 Attempting to Avoid Destiny

Nelson Mandela tells that when he was struggling to establish himself as a young lawyer in Johannesburg, he befriended a businessman, Hans Muller—a man who viewed the world through the lens of supply and demand.  Muller, looking out the window, pointed out the people scurrying up and down the street.  “Look out there, Nelson.  Do you see those men and women so busy in their daily activities?  What is it they are pursuing?  What is it for which they work so feverishly?  I’ll tell you.  All of them, without exception, is in pursuit of wealth and money--because, to them, wealth and money equal happiness.  Once you have enough money, there is nothing else you will want in life.” 

The advice was well-meant, but that only made it all the more dangerous.  If had taken Muller’s advice, Mandela could have done very well for himself, but luckily, for South Africa, he didn’t.  Instead of “looking out for Number One,” he decided to dedicate himself to serving his country. 

This incident may help to better understand the in today’s Gospel message.  Jesus told His disciples that He would be a “Suffering Messiah.”  Foretelling His impending passion and death on the cross, according to the wishes of His Father, He showed His faithfulness and love. (It’s not that God the Father wanted His Son to suffer, but that He wanted to show us the depth of His love for us.)   He laid down His life that we might have forgiveness for sins and have a path to follow toward Eternal Life. 

^†Peter could not fathom the image of a Suffering Messiah.  No doubt ^†Peter was thinking of himself--but with concern for His Savior, he tried to stop Jesus.  In so doing, ^†Peter became a “stumbling block,” and even though he had a very important role to play in His plans, Jesus was prepared to lose ^†Peter’s friendship, rather than allow him to deflect Him from His destiny.

When Jesus set out on the road to Jerusalem, He knew fully the consequences of the that decision.   In contrast, Jeremiah didn’t know for what he was getting into when he agreed to become God’s prophet.  Nor did Mandela know that dedicating his life to his country would mean spending 27 years in prison.  (This makes Jesus’ sacrifice much more significant.)

When the hour came for Jesus to drink the “cup of suffering and death,” He didn’t find it easy.  In fact, He underwent terrible agony, and even asked His Father "to remove the chalice” from Him.  Nevertheless, He remained faithful.

Whereas Jeremiah’s struggle was similar, in that he was so overwhelmed by the demands of his task, he wanted to “pack it all in” (his cry surely finds an echo in the heart of anyone who serves God in a difficult situation,)  It is never easy to bear witness in the face of indifference and hostility.  Only with profound conviction of one's vocation can they hold to the task.  But it is comforting for us to know that even someone like Jeremiah could contemplate “opting out.” 

Before his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela was “on the run” for several years.  Reflecting about this time he writes:  "It wasn’t easy for me to separate myself from my wife and children; to say goodbye to the good old days, when, at the end of a strenuous day at the office, I would look forward to joining my family at the dinner table; and instead take up the life a man hunted continuously by the police; being separated from those closest to me; continually facing the hazards of detection and of arrest.  This was a life infinitely more difficult than service a prison sentence.” (Long Walk to Freedom, 1994, Little, Brown and Company)

Mandela was driven to make such great sacrifices for love of his country.  This was the “cross” he carried because he loved his people. 

The claim is made that religion asks too little of people; that it's too ready to offer comfort and  consolation, but, in doing so, has lost the courage to challenge them.  The result for many is that religion becomes “a crutch,” on which they lean in times of weakness and infirmity.  But in times of well being, they forget about it, more or less.

However, most would agree that faith is the best support we can have in times of weakness.  Faith should be more of a positive force in our lives--serving as would a “pair of wings,” helping our spirits soar in times of joy and strength.  In other words, faith doesn’t merely appeal to our weaknesses, but also to our strengths. 

Though unlikely to be as severe as Mandela’s troubles, all of us experience difficult struggles at some time or other.   Some tasks we simply don’t like to do, yet we know we must, if we are to be faithful to our obligations and responsibilities.  Sacrifice is not an easy road, but it is the way that enables our “best selves” to take shape.  This is how we acquire character and integrity.  Our happiness doesn’t lie in “doing our own thing,” or “what we feel like doing,” but in doing what we have to do.  Having love in our hearts while we do them makes those things a joy!

Being Christ’s disciple is a serious business.  Yet this doesn’t mean suffering is something Christians should seek, any more than Jesus sought it.   Suffering will inevitably be part of a Christian’s life, as it was for Him.   Following Christ can be made in small steps, however.  God is patient—His challenge is an invitation to us to be faithful in our way of life, having concern for others in whatever manner is required…the caring gesture; the kind word; etc.  The Lord does not overlook the painful decision, the unspoken sorrow, the secret suffering.  There can be much heroism in ordinary life.  Today, there are many more saints among us than those formally canonized people whose examples we revere.  Jesus supports all those who follow him down the “narrow road of sacrifice” and shares His Easter victory with them. 

Saving One’s Soul

There is a question we should recall when we are faced with important, and difficult life choices.  Our patron, Ignatius of Antioch, writing at the beginning of the second century A.D., pondered it regularly.  You are, no doubt familiar with it, and heard it read in today's Gospel: “What good will it do for you to gain the whole world If you lose your immortal soul?” (Mark 8:36)

(The following is paraphrased from an article I found particularly valuable:

“Some translations [of Scripture] want to make the ‘soul’ translate by the word "life." (It is true that the soul is a Greek concept, not so much a Hebrew one.) But if we ask: ‘What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his life,’ the whole meaning of the passage is changed.  [All of us] are going to lose our lives one way or another, sooner or later.  The word "soul" has to do with whether this ending of our human life is the end, or whether something ‘existentially transcendent’ about each of us is implied in the notion of soul.

“Further, the soul is not a ‘spirit’ that lives by itself in our bodies or floats around outside of us. Angels are “spirits” but we are ‘flesh and blood.’  Our souls always retain their reference to the body that makes us whole persons of our kind. The old Manichean notion was that matter is evil, so that to achieve perfection, man had to escape from matter.

“When ‘spirituality’ has this overtone of something intrinsically evil about the body, it is not Christian. This view does not mean that our bodies and their passions cannot cause us problems.  It means that one of the functions of the soul, or of man, through the powers of his soul, is to rule himself; to be virtuous. The significance of the soul's immortality is, as it were, that the record of the acts of virtue and vice that we put into the world is permanent, through time and eternity.

“The soul is the animating principle that makes us what we are—finite beings who will live forever. The soul is the form that guarantees the continuity between this life and the next.  Otherwise, when we ‘lose’ our lives, we just lose them.  Nothing more is to be said.  The whole drama of what our being really is no longer has any grounding.

"Many scientists over the centuries have looked for the soul under the microscope or other such devices, without finding it.  The methods used are based on the premise that the soul will contain some sort of matter, but it doesn't.  The most common experience that implies our immortality is thinking.  Reflecting back on our lives, we encounter principles that remain the same always and everywhere.  This can only occur because we somehow also belong to a realm of the unchangeable.

“Over the course of our lives, we remain the same person, while every atom in our physical makeup is frequently replaced. Something abiding over time is making us to remain the same being we were when we were first conceived, in spite of all the changes of age and health.”   ("On the Human Soul"~~Father James V. Schall, S.J.)

Putting this into perspective of our everyday lives, perhaps we may find ourselves with options that would bring us great reward, but which requires we compromise our principles.  Maybe, in progressing to the next level of success, we discover our good fortune disadvantages someone else.  Or, by staying mute in the face of some injustice, our security and comfort may remain intact while some other person suffers.  These situations arise altogether too often in our daily life, particularly recently, during yet another contentious election season.  We must always be cautious about attempting to overwhelm those who differ from our position, and not sink into the realms of negativity and derision.   We should keep in mind that "having our way" in our proposition may result in the oppression of another.  It should be remembered that the eventual outcome of most events rarely devolves to the extremes we fear.  Rather, some "middle ground" of possibilities is more likely to occur. Therefore, if we have taken some extreme stance, and alienated our brothers and sisters thereby, there may be little chance of recovery or our relationships later.  

 Gaining and Losing

There is a way of losing by gaining.

You can win an argument but lose a friend

Through competition and promotion

I may advance in my profession

But in terms of relationships, I am impoverished.

My energies are so focused on efficiency and success

That I haven’t time to grow, emotionally,

And develop my capacity for relationships.

In my drive to attain power,

I might sacrifice friendship and loyalty,

So much so, that one ends up “alone.”

Lord, let me never forget Your haunting question:

“What good will it do for you to gain the whole world if you lose your immortal soul?”

~~Anonymous~~

 May God Richly Bless You!

To view a live stream of today's Liturgy of the Word, click here: https://youtu.be/UmbcWXQlGVA 

Desert Psalm.docx

Desert Psalm.mp3

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Father Michael