Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

We must admit, our Gospel today is very challenging! So much so that it could be a temptation for us to dismiss this section of the sermon. For example Jesus tells us, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.”

What are we to make of this? Haven’t most of our eyes caused us to sin at some point in our lives? What is Jesus trying to say? This is where the wisdom of the Church is an enormous gift. Through the Church Fathers, the Saints, and the Magisterium itself we know that Jesus did not mean for us to take this literally. One of the most illustrative examples of this is Origen—one of the greatest names in the ancient Church. He was thought to have taken Jesus’s words literally and mutilated himself to keep him from sinning. And in part because of this the Church has never canonized him a saint in order to be clear that we should not follow his example.

But neither are these words empty. Jesus is speaking hyperbolically to be as clear as possible. Something larger than we can imagine is at stake—our eternal life. And Jesus is trying to illustrate the gravity of this reality.

Yet what is beautiful about it is that we can see the heart of the good Father shine through Jesus’s words. He isn’t being stern because he is a strict judge that wants to punish the things we do wrong. He is being stern because he couldn’t bear the thought of not having you with him for all eternity. He has “destined” all of us for heaven—as his sons and daughters. Yet he is a God of freedom! He never forces anything upon us. We are free to accept or reject this gift. Today our ears witness this eternal plea from on high which begs us to recognize just how much we are loved—just how much we are desired.

Deacon Michael Gokie
Assistant Newman Director