Whilst we shouldn’t be going around cutting off our limbs, Jesus teaches today about the need to redact what in our lives takes us off the road to God. An easy teaching, perhaps. But necessary.
Our world of today contains standard norms, many of which go against the teachings of Christianity. Even the norms that do not contravene them could be said to hinder a pure road to goodness. The method Jesus mentions: cutting off your limb if it causes you to sin, may sound dreadful. But he used it, no doubt, precisely because it is so difficult to say goodbye to standard norms, to patterns of behaviour, expecially when they are ingrained in the cultural status quo.
Let us not live chasing our spiritual tails. It is awful to feel the weight of our own sin. Let us use the Sacramental graces open to us: confession, and the Eucharist, to approach Jesus with lightness, and engage in a weeding process in our spiritual garden.
The setting for Jesus’s teaching speaks of today’s significant issues with racism and general intolerance towards others who we recognise as outside of our remit. The God we follow escapes all human boundaries; his grace fires through them all. And so should we. Our love of neighbour should not be restricted by governmental borders or skin tone, language barriers or the quantity of money someone holds in their bank. But, as often as we hear this, we can fall short of giving that grace to all, simply by not really caring, not being active as followers of Christ.
How, then, shall we broadcast our caring to others today and throughout the week? Where shall we begin? Perhaps we begin at today’s Gospel. Hear Christ’s message, make it for ourselves, and do our best to live with the openness of Jesus, who knows no borders.
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (9:38-43. 45. 47-48)
Glory to you, O Lord.
John said to Jesus,
‘Master, we saw a man who is not one of us casting out devils in your name;
and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.’
But Jesus said,
‘You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me.
Anyone who is not against us is for us.
‘If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ,
then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
‘But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone round his neck.
And if your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out. And if your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye should cause you to sin, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm does not die nor their fire go out.’
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.