Our readings today present us with an invitation to a radical turning away from the ways of the world, to a radical embracing of the gospel message so that through the grace and merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, we too, like him, can accomplish our mission in this brief but beautiful life that God has given to us.
The first reading is taken from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which is where we hear about the beautiful humility of the Son of God, what we theologically label as his “kenosis” – an emptying of himself by assuming a human nature so as to guide, accompany and redeem Mankind on its way to its eternal destiny.
Likewise, if we are to follow him as faithful disciples, we too will have to embrace the process of emptying ourselves of pride, arrogance, selfishness and individualism, so as to truly be the light to a world so desperately in need of direction.
Saint Paul encourages us therefore, to strategize and work out our salvation. He is insinuating that we will need to navigate through those things which will make this effort difficult and those things which hold or set us back from accomplishing our salvation through the grace of Christ. God is always sending us grace upon grace and blessing upon blessing, but we must ask ourselves how are we reciprocating this generosity? Saint Paul continues to encourage us to move forward “without grumbling or questioning” as if to say that this salvation which needs to be worked out in fear and trembling will involve scenarios of obedience and a humbling of oneself. He points to Christ’s obedience who obeyed even unto death on a cross.
That same Christ in today’s gospel, will further identify himself as God, indicating that nothing or no one can hold priority in our hearts above the obeisance we owe to him. At first this seems to be a shocking claim coming from a man, but becomes less shocking when it is revealed that he is more than just a man, but the God of the universe who veiled himself with a true human nature.
To love Christ above all things, and before any of the love we have for those we even cherish the most, like our mothers and fathers and children, only enhances the latter relationships and in no way diminishes them. Once we learn that God is the source of all things, and Christ is God, then it all falls into place as we can reason that the closer we get to Him the more everything else, which is secondary, becomes beautiful and splendid, while our difficulties take on a different dimension than just tedious circumstances holding us down. When we place Christ first, all suffering becomes a means to sanctification, and whatever difficulties or pain we may have to endure can be offered up as redemptive, if we but unite it to the His sufferings.
Jesus’ actual words are: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” This is where he makes us buckle, and it is verses such as this one that makes me so proud of the evangelist who recorded them for us on paper, or papyrus rather! Think of it… if you were a contemporaneous Jew writing your own fictitious account of a Messiah, and you knew that the fourth commandment was to love and honour your father and mother, it would be the furthest thing from your strategic goal to have this figure say such a thing—to hate your mother? To hate your father and even your very own life? So here the witness to these difficult words is faithfully recording what he knows is going to be a cause for contention further down the road.
The truth is, yes, to place Christ in the first place in your life means it will cost you something. He is asking all of us to count the cost. For this reason he goes on in the gospel asking who would set out to build a tower, without first counting the cost, or the king who would march onto a battlefield without first assessing the enemy’s numbers and resources.
Our salvation needs to be worked out in much the same way, keeping in mind the cunningness of the devil who wars against us with his minions, for there is no greater good than the salvation and glorification of your soul and spiritualized body in heaven forever. Nothing compares!
So let us be wise and continue to fight the good fight then, not just to make it to heaven, but to come in first, for as Paul says elsewhere… “Run in such a way as to take the prize. Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize?” 1 Corinthians 9:24. Let’s not just participate, but go beyond. Keep in mind our Lord’s words, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:20.
A lot of us persevere for that healthy body, and we try to work on our food intake and our cardio and the like, and so we should.
The motives however will vary. Some of us are looking for the esthetics, some to fulfill some personal goal, others out of a fear of dying believing there’s nothing else in the hereafter. If only we could look after our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, and our souls as that part of us which can never die! The worldly will look after their body a lot of times and neglect the mind and the soul. Some will look after everything but the latter. Our acknowledging God’s existence is the game changer. In fact, disbelief already disqualifies us from the perennial race which leads to paradise, because as Jesus indicated, “those who do not believe are already condemned.” It’s not that God condemns us. It’s our thinking that the here and now is the be all and end all of all existence. This is what condemns us, and it's a condemnation ratified in sin. The heavenly minded rather, will try to look after their bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, remain pure in heart and mind, and strive to live virtuous lives of prayer, fasting and alms giving. Then and only then would we be working out our salvation with fear and trembling like the saints who have gone before us leading the way.
Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen.
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