Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48
I WENT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL AT STANFORD IN CALIFORNIA. THE PROTESTS AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR WERE AT A PEAK, AND SECOND ONLY TO BERKELEY ACROSS THE BAY, STANFORD WAS RIGHT UP THERE WITH RADICAL GESTURES, SIT-INS, TEACH-INS, THAT SORT OF THING. AND THERE WAS ANOTHER CURRENT IN THE AIR; THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT. AND OF COURSE THE CAPITAL OF THAT WAS SAN FRANCISCO, ONLY 30 MILES FROM MY MEDICAL SCHOOL. I HAD A CLASSMATE FROM NEBRASKA – HE WAS A FARM BOY WHO HAD GOTTEN THROUGH COLLEGE ON A FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP, AND DID WELL ENOUGH TO BE ACCEPTED AT STANFORD. WHEN I FIRST MET HIM, HE PLANNED TO BECOME A PHYSICIAN, SPECIALIZE IN FAMILY PRACTICE, AND GO BACK TO THE SMALL TOWN HE CAME FROM, WHERE HE WOULD MARRY HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART AND SERVE THE COMMUNITY HE LOVED.
BUT HE TRIED SOME MARIJUANA, AND SOME LSD, AND MOVED IN WITH A HOUSE FULL OF HIPPIES WHO BELIEVED THAT RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN, AND HE ONLY NOW AND THEN ACTUALLY SHOWED UP FOR CLASS. I ASKED HIM ONCE HOW HE EXPECTED TO PASS HIS COURSES WITHOUT SHOWING UP, AND HE TOLD ME THAT LSD MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO JUST LOOK AT A PAGE OF A TEXTBOOK AND HE REMEMBERED IT IN EVERY DETAIL. THE SEMESTER PASSED, AND TESTS WERE GIVEN AND TAKEN, AND HIS ABILITY FAILED HIM AND HE FLUNKED OUT. THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM HE HAD A JOB DRAWING BLOOD SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS IN THE HOSPITAL. I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS TODAY.
PERHAPS WE LAUGH AT SOMEONE WHO THINKS HE CAN BECOME A PHYSICIAN WITHOUT DOING A GREAT DEAL OF STUDYING, AND WE WONDER IF MY FRIEND HAD BLOWN A FEW CIRCUITS WITH THE LSD. BUT I THINK THERE IS SOME OF THAT IN ALL OF US. WE LIKE SHORT-CUTS. WE MAY WANT SOMETHING, BUT WISH WE COULD GET THERE WITHOUT ALL THE TROUBLE THAT WE HAVE TO GO TO. IN OUR DECISIONS IN THIS LIFE, WE QUICKLY LEARN THAT THERE AREN'T SHORT CUTS; UNLESS WE PASS THE COURSES WE CAN'T GET THE DEGREE; UNLESS WE SAVE UP THE MONEY, WE CAN'T BUY THE HOUSE WE WANT; UNLESS WE PUT IN THE LONG, TEDIOUS EFFORT, WE CAN'T HAVE THAT BEAUTIFUL GARDEN. THAT IS OUR LIFE'S EXPERIENCE; AND WE LOOK DOWN ON PEOPLE WHO SPEND ALL THEIR TIME WISHING FOR SOMETHING, BUT NEVER PUTTING FORTH ANY EFFORT. I HAVE PATIENTS WHO'VE BEEN CURED OF LUNG CANCER BUT STILL SMOKE; THEY KNOW THEIR RISK OF ANOTHER CANCER IS ABOUT 20 TIMES WHAT IT WOULD BE IF THEY STOPPED, BUT EVERY TIME THEY PLUNK DOWN THAT FIVE DOLLAR BILL FOR ANOTHER PACK OF CIGARETTES, THEY ARE MAKING A DECISION. THEY AREN'T WILLING TO TAKE ON THE HARD WORK NECESSARY TO GET TO THEIR GOAL.
SO WE HAVE THIS LIFE EXPERIENCE, BUT STILL WE THINK THE SPIRITUAL LIFE IS DIFFERENT SOMEHOW. WE THINK THAT IF WE GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY AND BE NICE TO PEOPLE MOST OF THE TIME, AVOID MURDER AND ADULTERY AND SERIOUS LYING, WELL, WE WILL GET TO HEAVEN. HEAVEN IS FOR GOOD PEOPLE, WE SAY, AND I'M CERTAINLY NOT THAT BAD. I HOPE THAT IS TRUE. I KNOW JESUS HAS PAID THE PRICE.
BUT HEAR HIM TODAY. IF YOU CAUSE ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES TO SIN, IT IS BETTER THAT YOU BE DROWNED. IF YOUR HAND CAUSES YOU TO SIN, CUT IT OFF; IT IS BETTER TO GO INTO LIFE WITH ONE HAND, THAN TO HAVE BOTH HANDS AND BE CAST INTO GEHENNA. NOW IF WE ALL TOOK JESUS AT HIS LITERAL WORD, AND WE REALLY CARED, WE'D BE AN INTERESTING BUNCH; YOU COULD TELL A CATHOLIC BECAUSE MOST WOULD HAVE A LIMB LOPPED OFF, OR AN EYE PLUCKED OUT. SOME OF US WOULD JUST BE BLIND TORSOS.
BUT JESUS IS SERIOUS; IF SOMETHING IS CAUSING US TO SIN, THERE IS NO CHEAP GRACE. SIN IS THE DECISION NOT TO ACCEPT THE PRICE JESUS HAS PAID FOR US; IT IS THE DECISION TO REFUSE THE GRACE HE OFFERS SO THAT WE CAN LIVE IN THE CENTER OF THE TRINITY FOREVER. SALVATION IS FREE, BUT WE HAVE TO ACCEPT IT, AND WE CAN'T ACCEPT IT JUST BY SAYING WE WANT IT. WE HAVE TO REPENT, JESUS SAID SO, PAUL SAID SO, THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS SAID SO. AND REPENTANCE MEANS THAT WE CHANGE OUR MINDS, WE CHANGE OURSELVES FUNDAMENTALLY, WE LOOK AT THE ROOT OF OUR SINS AND DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO RIP THAT ROOT OUT. AND WE DON'T JUST WORRY ABOUT THE BIG SINS, WE WORRY ABOUT THE SMALL ONES, THE ONES THAT WE USED TO CALL VENIAL SINS. BECAUSE GOD IN HIS GREATNESS MAY OVERLOOK THEM BUT IF WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST, WE DON'T WANT TO APPROACH THE THRONE OF THE FATHER WITH EVEN A LITTLE SIN.
AND IF WE REPENT, IF WE SET OUT TO CHANGE OUR MINDS SO THAT WE CAN ACCEPT THE GIFT OF JESUS CHRIST, IF WE HAVE THE REAL INTENTION OF GOING THROUGH THE LONG AND TEDIOUS WORK OF GETTING RID OF THOSE INCLINATIONS IN OUR SOULS THAT LEAD US INTO SIN, GOD HELPS US, HE GIVES US THE GRACE TO DO THIS, BECAUSE HE LOVES US AND WANTS US TO FREELY CHOOSE HIM. AND JESUS SAYS THAT ONCE WE MAKE THIS COMMITMENT TO GOD, WE TAKE ON A BURDEN WHICH HE WILL MAKE LIGHT, AND A YOKE WHICH HE WILL MAKE SWEET.
I READ ABOUT A MAN WHO WAS ADDICTED TO INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY. HE THOUGHT IT WAS HARMLESS. IT WAS RECREATION, HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING BUT LOOK, AND HE DISCIPLINED HIMSELF TO 30 MINUTES A DAY. HE WAS A GOOD FATHER AND HUSBAND AND DID HIS JOB WELL AND WENT TO CHURCH. ONE DAY HE SAW THAT HIS HABIT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND RESOLVED TO STOP IT. BUT STILL, HE WOULD SIT DOWN AT HIS COMPUTER AND ALMOST WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT HE WAS DOING, FIND HIMSELF AT HIS FAVORITE WEB SITES. SO ONE DAY, HE SET THE FILTER ON HIS COMPUTER AS HIGH AS IT WOULD GO. THAT MEANT THAT HE COULDN'T GO TO ANY OF THE WEB SITES HE LIKED WITHOUT ENTERING A PASSWORD. AND HE CHOSE AS HIS PASSWORD THE WORDS “JESUS CHRIST”. AND HE NEVER VISITED ONE OF THOSE WEB SITES AGAIN.
I GIVE THAT EXAMPLE BECAUSE THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF CHEAP GRACE. WE HAVE TO STUDY OUR SINS, FIND THEIR ROOTS, AND FIND A WAY TO PUT JESUS CHRIST BETWEEN US AND THOSE TRIGGERS WHICH LEAD US INTO SIN. AND IF WE CAN'T DO IT BY OURSELVES, AND MANY OF US CAN'T, WE NEED A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR WHO CAN WORK WITH US. AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. BECAUSE IF MY EYE CAUSES ME TO SIN, I SHOULD PLUCK IT OUT; FOR IT IS BETTER TO GO INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WITH ONE EYE THAN IT IS TO BE CAST INTO GEHENNA WITH BOTH EYES, WHERE THE WORM NEVER STOPS AND THE FIRE ALWAYS SMOLDERS, AND THERE IS NOTHING FOR ALL ETERNITY BUT REGRET.