for today's reading (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021116.cfm)
Whomever Loses His
Life for My Sake Will Save It
Today’s
readings seem almost oppressive and foreboding.
Moses tells us that we must follow laws, statutes and decrees to live
and grow numerous. Jesus tells us about suffering,
death, and following him with our own crosses.
It
is not always easy to follow rules. Do
we tend to see people slow down at stop lights when the light is yellow, or do
people to try make the light? How many
times do we see people cross the road when they are not in a crosswalk? How many people do we know who have received
speeding or parking tickets? Rules within society are designed to help us
remain safe and function together peacefully as a whole. They serve a beneficial purpose though we may
not always see it that way.
Currently
among the high school/junior high group is a game called, “All Hail! Chairman
Mao!” or simply “Mao.” It is a game
where the fixed rules are the ones regarding penalties. The other rules are added by the first player
each round of the card game. Players
must figure them out as they are played, and suffer the consequences for the
rule violation. It can be a frustrating
game, but fun to watch each other struggle.
Sometimes players do become angry enough they don’t want to play
anymore.
If
our lives were like the game of Mao and we would be ignorant of the right way
to live and the wrong way. We would be penalized
for doing wrong in our ignorance. How would
we know that God loved us? Would we love
God the way we do? Probably not.
In
the first reading Moses reminds us that as God’s prophet he has laid out the
two paths that our loving God has given to us, the path which if we follow the
Lord’s commands, statutes and decrees, will allow us to live and grow
numerous. This is the way that God will
bless us for our reciprocated love.
However, Moses says, “you turn your hearts away and will not listen, but
are led astray…you shall certainly perish.”
When parents make rules within their homes for their children, it is out
of love. They want to protect, to teach
their children to love and serve each other, and parents want to teach their
children the path to righteousness. Thus,
when we look at the Laws of God, in this way, do we not want to obey them? Can we not see that our Father guides us
through them? We are on a journey
carrying our crosses whatever they may be, but God is providing us directions
for the journey, calling us into communities that help us understand where we
are being led, and will meet us at our journey’s end.
Jesus
foretells of his suffering, crucifixion and death. He states that he will be resurrected. This was his journey, his death, his life so
that we may have life. Jesus revealed to
us the fullness of God’s plan of salvation for his people, for us, because He
so loves us. We are called to
acknowledge the passing of this life as merely transient, that we should be focused
on what is eternal. We are not to be
afraid of death, but embrace it as a friend who will take us to the
Kingdom. Jesus said, “If anyone wishes
to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow
me. For whomever wishes to save his life
will lose it, but whomever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Our Lenten journey helps us to remember our
crosses, the Way that Jesus taught so that we may have eternal life, and how
grateful we are that God so loves us.
Let
us pray this Lent the words of St. Benedict:
Merciful God in infinite compassion, whose creating power called us
forth from the dust of the earth, in this, the acceptable time, lead us inward
to be at peace with you, impel us outward to be reconciled with our neighbor,
that we may embrace the sacred discipline of lent with broken, humbled hearts
so come to the blessed joy of the paschal feast cleansed and renewed. We ask this of you. Amen.
