Friday of 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Yr. II: reflection

Theme: Be determined to part with anything that makes you fall into sin.

Reading: Mt 5:27–32

In today’s gospel, Matthew continues with Jesus’ special call for a different and better lifestyle from his followers. As we saw in the gospel reading of yesterday, Jesus is inviting Christians to stop sin from its source.

The special call in today’s gospel is that anyone desiring to enter God’s kingdom must get rid of anything that would stand in his way. Jesus conveys this lovely lesson through an analogy that appeals to common sense. He advises cutting off one’s hands, legs, or eyes if they will lead to sin, that it will be better for one to enter eternal life without them than to go to hell fire with them intact.

Medical professionals often recommend amputation of infected or cancerous body parts in order to save life, and patients voluntarily or, occasionally, reluctantly submit themselves for such painful experience just to save their lives. Now, the question is, if people are willing to have their parts amputated in order to save their temporal life, should they not be willing to do more to save their eternal life?

Dear Friends, Jesus is telling us that if we are willing to give up our infected eye, leg, breast, hands, and internal organs, as well as reject some beautiful and tasty food, in order to save our temporal life, we should be willing to do the same or more in order to save our eternal life. We must be prepared to part with any object or person whose presence in and around our lives will cost us our eternal life, no matter how beautiful they are. Anyone or any object whose presence in our lives will deny us heavenly glory should be treated as a cancerous part.

May your efforts this Friday bear good fruits in abundance.

Fr Isaac Chima.