Homily — 26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

This week’s Gospel follows immediately upon the events of last week’s, when Jesus took a child, put his arms around him, and said to his disciples, "whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me." The disciples, you’ll remember, were discussing who among them was the greatest. They had begun to think of their position within the inner circle of Jesus’ followers as one of power and importance. Our Lord had to remind them that being a true disciple was really all about service, littleness, and simplicity of faith.

And yet, the message still hasn’t sunk in. Because today’s Gospel immediately begins with John complaining to the Lord, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us." It’s as if he were saying, "we’re the important ones; we’re the special ones; we’re the only ones who should be allowed to do things like drive out demons; who does this non-disciple think he is?" When the Lord rebukes John, he is not saying that it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a disciple. Certainly, there’s great advantage in being a follower of Jesus. What he is saying to John (and to us) is that it’s not our place to judge the thoughts, intentions, and motivations of other people’s hearts. When we see someone doing a good deed—especially when it is done in Christ’s name—we should praise the Lord and recognize that he can accomplish his will through whomever he chooses and in whatever way he chooses.

And, just to assure the disciples that it is a great blessing to be a Christian, he tells them, "Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward." And then, with his arms still around a little child, he continues, "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." Our Lord is now teaching the disciples about the terrible gravity of sin, especially when it is against those who are most weak and vulnerable.

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off," he tells his disciples, "and if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.... and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out." These are strong words. Jesus didn’t really mean this, did he? Most commentators would say no. For example, William Barclay, one of the great Protestant commentators on the New Testament, wrote: "This saying of Jesus is not to be taken literally, but is a vivid Eastern way of saying that there is a goal in life worth any sacrifice to attain it." Well that’s a relief! Whatever the sacrifice is, at least—according to Barclay—it doesn’t involve amputation!

But I don’t agree with this interpretation. I think Jesus meant exactly what he said—if not a great deal more. I believe we can take this passage quite literally: If your hand (or foot, or eye) causes you to sin, then by all means, cut it off! I can think of one application for this procedure: Perhaps we should station the ushers at the entrances of the Church, and give them hatchets, so that whoever tries to leave Mass early will have their feet summarily chopped off!

But before we go to this extreme (which would probably get us in trouble with the local authorities and create a real mess for our maintenance crew), let me ask you this question: when was the last time your hand or foot or eye caused you to sin? My hand does not control me, I control my hand. If I choose to steal something, I use my hand to do it; but it is my will that directs my hand to act, not the other way around. If a person goes somewhere he should not go, it is not his feet forcing him to go there, rather it is his own inordinate desires which have directed his feet where to walk.

Elsewhere in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says, "Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile....From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."

So even if we take Jesus at his word when he says, "if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off," we realize that we don’t need to amputate any body parts, because that’s not where the sin resides. Extreme measures are called for, but the amputation must take place within our interior lives—our hearts and minds—rooting out sin and the causes of sin. Now this might come as a relief, but in reality, the project before us is much more difficult than simply removing a hand or a foot. If I could be rid of sin through a simple surgical procedure, believe me, I’d be in the hospital tomorrow. But it is much harder to perform spiritual surgery than physical.

Yet God gives us all of the surgical instruments we need to perform this task. They include prayer, study and the Sacraments. Through prayer, we maintain our conversation with God, and we will know when to avoid evil and do good. Through study, we inform ourselves of the teachings of Christ and his Church, thereby forming our conscience. The Sacraments are absolutely essential to this task—especially the Sacrament of penance and reconciliation. We can never get rid of serious sin in our lives if we refuse to go to confession. These are the tools for spiritual surgery. The pre-op for this surgery begins when we examine our own hearts and minds to find those things that need to go. And to do this, we must avoid falling into the trap in which we find Saint John at the beginning of today’s Gospel. He needed to be reminded not to worry about what other people were doing or saying, but to look after his own conscience and actions. So may God give us the grace to examine our hearts and to use the tools he gives us to cut away anything which might keep us from him. Because nothing in this life is worth having if it means losing the life to come.

© 2003, The Rev. Timothy W. Castor