***
Who’s seen the Disney movie, Frozen?
It’s about a young girl named Elsa who has the power to turn things into ice. She loved her magical powers until she accidentally hit her sister, Ana, nearly killing her.
Distraught over the accident, Elsa runs away and builds herself a castle of ice, where she remains hidden for many, many years.
Meanwhile, Elsa’s village of Arendelle remains in an eternal winter, waiting for her to come home.
In the end, Elsa learns that, if she is ever going to be happy, then she must let her fear and her shame go. In a moment of inspiration, she bursts out of her castle of ice and sings her famous song, “Let it go!”
***
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of discipleship in very radical terms, telling us to pluck out our eyes and cut off our hands and feet if they cause us to sin.
Yikes!
Clearly, Jesus is exaggerating. But serious teachings often require serious words. What he is saying is that we must let go of any person, any thought, or any action that leads us to sin.
Otherwise, we may miss our opportunity to enter the kingdom of God…
To sin literally means, “to trip, to fall, to stumble.” The question becomes, then, what causes us to stumble in our relationship with God? What freezes our hearts and isolates us from others?
Is it a resistance to Jesus’ words, an unhealthy relationship, regrets, a particular temptation, regrets, or a deep-seeded habit?
Or, using the imagery from the Gospel, do our eyes cause us to sin? Do we ever look at people with judgmental or lustful eyes?
***
“Pluck them out,” Jesus says. Get rid of the judgment. Get rid of the lust.
Just as we scrape our knees when we fall, sinning causes us scrape – or hurt – our relationship with God and with others.
***
What makes this Gospel so challenging is not only the fact that Jesus urges us to remove sin from our own lives; he also warns us against causing others to sin.
In fact, Jesus is even sterner in this regard.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin,” he says,“it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
By “little ones,” Jesus is not simply referring to children. He’s also referring to those who are weak, on the periphery, or new to the faith.
Think of the young people in our parish, our candidates preparing for confirmation, or even someone struggling with grief.
We must make every effort to encourage them on their faith journeys, because our actions either build them up or tear them down. Rarely are actions neutral.
For example, a kind word, a prayer, an apology, or even a smile can offer an inspirational boost.
But gossip can ruin a person’s reputation.
It’s important to be aware of howour actions affect other people, as we will be held accountable for them in the end.
***
Remember Queen Elsa from the movie Frozen. Just as her decision to isolate herself affected her entire village, so we are all connected as a human family. Our actions affect other people, either for better or for worse.
This is why Jesus urges us to be aware of our behavior. If anything causes us to sin – to stumble – then we must “let it go.”
Or, using his words, we must“pluck it out… cut it off.”
And make every effort, instead, to support and build one another up. For whatever we do to one another, we do to Jesus.