The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today connect our praise and internal disposition to the grace that enables us to be transformed as disciples of Jesus.
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| Grace and generosity |
The Book of Sirach looks to what is a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice.
* [35:1–26] Keeping the commandments of the law and avoiding injustice constitute sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God (vv. 1–5). Offerings also should be made to him, cheerfully and generously; these he repays sevenfold (vv. 6–13). Extortion from widows and orphans is injustice, and God will hear their cries (vv. 14–22a). Punishing the proud and the merciless and coming to the aid of the distressed, he requites everyone according to their deeds (vv. 22b–26).1
Psalm 50 exhorts us to offer to God praise as our sacrifice (Psalm 50:14).
In the Gospel from Mark, Jesus reassures Peter that his sacrifice is pleasing to God.
Mark Latta suggests that our reluctance and anxiety is the same as Peter’s. While Peter was outspoken, enthusiastic and often spontaneous perhaps he, like us, realized that he may be left with nothing as a result of supporting Jesus. Indeed it is likely our fear and specifically the fear of losing our attachments to the material things of the world that is our barrier to receiving God’s promise.
How do we overcome our fears to embrace God’s will for us? It might be as simple as Dorothy Bernard’s perspective that “courage is fear that has said its prayers”. The reward to those who are not enslaved to disordered attachments is to be content with their sense of self and their personal God-given dignity and to have inner peace. If we see wealth, honor and power for what they are and not how the world sees them not only do we enhance our own sense of dignity but we are more open to seeing the dignity of others and showing the respect and care for others that Jesus modeled for us. Whoever wants to be first must in fact be the last of all and in service to all.4
Don Schwager quotes “The spiritual sense of leaving the family,” by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215 A.D.
"Do not let this passage trouble you. Put it side by side with the still harder saying Jesus delivered in another place in the words, 'Whoever hates not father, and mother, and children, and his own life besides, cannot be my disciple' (Luke 14:26). Note that the God of peace, who exhorts us to love our enemies, does not arbitrarily require us literally to hate or abandon those dearest to us. But if we are to love our enemies, it must be in accordance with right reason that, by analogy we should also love our nearest relatives... But insofar as one's father, or son, or brother, becomes for you a hindrance to faith or an impediment to godly life, one should then not collude with that temptation. Attend to the spiritual, rather than the fleshly, meaning of the command."5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 10:28-31 suggests that God might have been asking us for years to control our anger, remove the chip from our shoulder, or stop committing the same sin over and over again. But suppose that we do find the grace to change. He won’t ask, “What took you so long?” His mercy is abundant and overflowing. It doesn’t work on a schedule or a tight deadline, so we are not late.
This is a hard concept to wrap our minds around. Jesus doesn’t keep time or measure progress the same way our boss or anybody else does. Everything depends on his free gift of grace—a gift that he offers us to the very end. That’s why “the last will be first” (Mark 10:31). It’s not necessarily because they will outrun the first; it’s because the people we consider “last” will be treated just as bountifully as the ones who we think are “first.”
Jesus promised that anyone who gives up his old way of life will receive “a hundred times more now in this present age . . . and eternal life in the age to come” (Mark 10:30).6
Friar Jude Winkler notes that Ben Sira teaches observing the Law is a wonderful sacrifice. Our internal disposition should be reflected in our liturgy. Friar Jude recalls the decision of St Francis of Assisi to live with nothing and the freedom that results from that choice.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, can see why Christians celebrate the Eucharist so often. This message is such a shock to the psyche, such a challenge to our pride and individualism, that it takes a lifetime of practice and much vulnerability for it to sink in—as the pattern of every thing, not just the bread and wine. Every thing is in Christ and Christ is in every thing. There is only one suffering, and it is the suffering of God. There is only one love, and it is all the love of God.
There’s a real difference between mere ceremonies and life-changing rituals, as my friend Fr. Jim Clarke taught me. [1] Ceremonies normally confirm and celebrate the status quo and avoid the shadow side of things. For example, on July 4 in the United States, we celebrate Independence Day with fireworks and parades to show we’re “proud to be an American,” while never acknowledging colonists’ genocide of Indigenous Peoples, the enslavement of Africans, how our over-consumption has contributed to planetary devastation, and other ways our “freedom” has cost others. We are not allowed to note these things without being considered unpatriotic or even rebellious. True sacred ritual is different than mere ceremony because it offers an alternative universe, where the shadow is named and drawn into the light. Sadly, most groups avoid real life-changing and healing rituals—even the church.7
Our unity is in Christ and and we praise the freedom that we experience through the grace of God as we let go of the distractions from our journey.
References
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(n.d.). Sirach chapter 35 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/Sirach/35:1
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(n.d.). Mark, chapter 10. Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/mark/10:17
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(2019, March 5). Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/03/05 /
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(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: March 2019 - Center for Action and .... Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/03/
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