26th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024

In today’s Gospel, Jesus delivers a very astringent message. He speaks of the danger of Hell, and warns against being the cause for another to sin. He uses the phrase one of these little ones, and there are multiple interpretations—children, those who are children in the faith, those who are children of God (anyone to whom applies love of neighbor), and to varying extents these are all valid interpretations. He then goes on to describe, in vivid detail, how it would be better to live with being physically maimed than to sin and perish in a fate worse than crippling injury.

I think, often as Catholics, we remember more than others that suffering is part of life. Offer it up is a common mantra and we do not shy from the Sorrowful Mysteries. While this is advantageous, what is common can also become rote. We think of the ordinary offering it up as the cold we had last week, or the toe we stubbed in the dark, or the annoyance with a bad driver in traffic. What Christ describes, though, is markedly more severe. Can we compare those minor offenses to our sensibilities to having an eye gouged out? Can a temporary illness compare to the permanent loss of a hand? The early Christians would not have made such a mistake, as they were subject to frequent persecution, torture, and martyrdom.

Last week, Father Coleman spoke about complacency and the tendency to do what is comfortable. In a society of convenience, it is a very common trap to be complacent. Pain spurs people to action by forcing them to seek relief. When the pains of day to day life are so greatly mitigated, we are responsible for providing our own motivation; but, the curse of the Fall works against us. Some may see the loosening of the requirements of the Church as laxity; but, to some extent, it is also necessary, for we live in a time of extraordinary personal weakness. The hardships that were commonplace just two or three generations ago would be absolutely crippling to many living today. We cannot endure the tasks that were appointed to them, much less the persecution that came to the early Church.

Just as it would be unwise to try a professional bodybuilder’s routine the first time one goes to the gym, it is unwise to try to attain the same level of devotion and penance of the saints and the martyrs when we barely even know what hunger feels like, much less the hunger of a week long black fast. However, it is to those things that Christ calls us—in His mercy, He knows the amount of work it will take us to get there. We are obligated to start, to begin developing lives of discipleship and sacrifice which will lead us toward that goal. We are required to walk the narrow road, crosses shouldered. We have to begin. If we do not, we will be the sleeping virgins who missed the coming of the Bridegroom. We will be the servants who hear the dreaded pronouncement, depart from Me, I never knew you.

As long as we try, He promises His faithfulness. We must try to bear our burdens gracefully. We must try to be charitable and kind. We must make a concerted effort not to assume the worst of others, or to gossip, or to be jealous, or to cause scandal or spread detraction. These acts, by their very nature, bring excommunication—not always by formal fiat, but by their very nature they break communion with the Body. However, if we accept the cross of attempting to rid ourselves of these impulses and defects, we can be assured of His mercy—because even if we do not always bear our burdens well, that we bear them is dear to the heart of Christ.