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Gospel: Mark 9: 41-50
Jesus said to his disciples:
“”Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
“”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.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
“”Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,
with what will you restore its flavor?
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.””
The Gospel of the Lord.
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On the topic of heaven and hell, C.S. Lewis once wrote: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell, choose it.”
The Church has never stated with any certainty that anyone is, in fact, in hell – or ever will be. But it must remain an option if we are free; freedom implies a choice of at least two options.
In this case, life with or life without God. Our choice.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives stern instructions on how to orient ourselves towards God. “If your hand causes you to sin,” he says, “cut it off.”
Clearly, the Lord is being metaphorical. God would never condone self-harm. What Jesus is saying is that we must uproot all temptations from our lives, even those that are as deeply rooted as the limbs of our body.
In my own spiritual journey, I’ve found the easiest way to rid myself of sin – if there is any easy way – is not to focus on conquering a particular sin (while letting other sins go unchecked).
Rather, to spend time with Jesus.
In the church, in my chapel at home, reading his Word, sharing my heart with Him, praising him in song, praying in community, celebrating the Sacraments, and encountering Him in my neighbor.
Just as two friends or spouses slowly become “one flesh,” the more time we spend with Christ, the more we become like Him. Since no sin is appealing to the Lord, sin slowly fades away in us.
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“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”
May Jesus grant us all the grace we need to follow the path of surrender, so that we may love Him the way he has loved us.
Then, we shall become not two, but “one flesh,” which no one and no thing can separate.
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Image credits: (1) iStock (2) The Final Judgment, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City (3) Pinterest