The readings for The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092621.cfm
If you cause someone else to sin, go drown yourself.
If a body part causes you to sin, lose it.
Does that strike anyone else here as a bit harsh?
I think the answer is absolutely - yes, it is harsh…but maybe that’s the point.
After hearing these words, I think all of us need to ask…how seriously do we take the Word of God?
As I look around - it seems that most of us have our bodies largely intact with our full complement of arms and legs and eyes.
But that doesn’t mean that we don’t sin, because in the eyes of God we are all sinners.
That is why Jesus gave us the sacrament of penance - confession so we can get right with God.
But if Jesus isn’t telling us to maime ourselves to keep us from sinning, there must be something else that He’s getting at.
As I reflected on this week’s gospel, I was reminded of the climber several years ago, who during a solo descent of a canyon in Utah - got pinned between two large rocks. Perhaps you remember him. After five days of being pinned, he decided to break his forearm so he could free himself by cutting off his arm using a dull pocket knife.
After that he had to rappel down a 65 foot drop and hike 7 miles alone to safety.
He was in a difficult situation where he had to choose between life and death.
I’m sure his choice was not easy, but - he chose life.
What Jesus is talking about today, is a life and death struggle.
And we are in one right now.
Jesus uses the images of cutting off a hand, or a foot, or plucking out an eye because he wants to emphasize how high the stakes are when it comes to sin and Heaven and Hell.
Now, we don’t talk about Hell a lot.
In fact, one of our defense mechanisms is to convince ourselves that Hell is only for the very worst sinners, like Adolf Hitler and a handful of others.
But this is not reality, we have the numbers all wrong. It reminds me of the difference in the title between two, well-known classic rock and roll songs - A Stairway To Heaven and a Highway to Hell.
So Hell is real and none of us really think we’re going to Hell, because if we did, our lives would be different and we’d have at least as many people going to confession as we have going to communion.
So, what if Jesus were to use different words to get his point across?
What if He said, “Do you want to be with me? Or would you rather stay as you are, even if it means eternal separation from me and my Father?”
What if He said, “Would you rather keep doing what you please and risk not being with me forever?”
You would think that these would be easy questions for us to answer.
But they’re not, - because it means admitting we need to face some unpleasant truths - and none of us like to do that.
Hopefully Jesus’ words get us to make a solid examination of conscience and to make a good sacramental confession and to change our ways.
Remember, Jesus didn’t say these words about cutting off an arm or a leg or plucking out an eye if it causes you to sin to the unconverted…
He was speaking to His disciples…
He was speaking to us.
Jesus was not exaggerating to make a point.
Jesus was demonstrating how seriously God takes sin.
Like that pinned climber in Utah, we have the power to choose between life and death.
But do we have the courage to make the same choice he did and choose life, even if it means making a hard choice and enduring short-term pain and giving up something that has been part of our lives for as long as we can remember?
This week, let us ask our Lord to give us the humility to see our situation as it truly is, and regardless of how hard or painful it is in the short-term, to choose to stay close to Him and to always choose life.
