Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 7, 2008 - Thursday following Ash Wednesday
[Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Luke 9:22-25]I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. (Deuteronomy - first reading)
If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? (Gospel of today) Stark decisions are not easy ones. There's always the tendency today to ask if there are any other options! Moses places the covenant in front of the people and tells them they have a choice between life and death! Jesus says that we either accept the cross or accept the loss! And in the case of such stark decisions, NOT to decide IS to decide! Both Jesus and Moses call attention to the long term consequences of not choosing the life being placed before us. There is no material gain that can equal the life Jesus is offering and choosing material gain can mean the loss of our very self! The fact is, however, that many, if not most of us, try to negotiate a better deal. We convince ourselves that particular little daily choices aren't directed at the BIG picture in which we see ourselves at the side of the Lord, toting that cross. Or we try to negotiate it on a parttime basis! Surely Jesus doesn't mean what he says in regard to DAILY? I mean, really, isn't Sunday Mass and occasional other sacraments ALL we HAVE to do? What is the integrity of faith in a person who does only what he/she HAS to do? When fundamental choices become bare minimums, surely one must honestly face the lack of enthusiasm or fullness of intention that are manifest in such an attitude. Perhaps in Lent a useful exercise might be an examination of "attitudes" about the gospel (and Moses') challenge. Are we willing to make the choice they offer, or do we by thought or deed try to negotiate "a better deal?" It should be clear to us that there is no such thing. AMEN
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