“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Mark 9:43).
Jas 5:1-6; Mr 9:41-50
Today’s Gospel appears to be a compilation of some of Jesus’ most incisive words about avoiding sins that can cause death to the soul. For Jesus, these were so serious that engaging in them was literally what moral theologians call “deadly sins.” They offend basic human values so deeply that they separate us from our own humanity, which in effect also separates us from God.
The Letter of Saint James describes the power of ill-gotten wealth to anesthetize the wealthy to the suffering of those whose labors produced their wealth. An example of this was landowners who cheated peasants out of a fair wage in order to finance their luxurious lifestyle. Murder was another. Hardened by violence, corrupted by excess, addicted to comfort, these sinners are rendered incapable of empathy and openness to grace. Even as they enjoy life, they die of moral indifference and lack of love.
Jesus included the sin of corrupting a child in this category. The compulsion to seek out the victims of abuse or to seduce the innocent, once it becomes habitual, has no remedy but intervention. In the first of a series of dramatic metaphors, Jesus says it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around your neck than to engage in these sins. It would be better to cut off a limb or gouge out an eye than to lose your soul and end up in hell, in this life and for eternity. These metaphors have been called Semitic hyperbole, but witnessing someone trapped in addiction, greed, pride and hatred reveals how difficult it is to escape without drastic change. no rescue.
In the film “The Godfather”, a bishop uses a stone from a fountain to show Don Corleone that, although surrounded by water, the inside of a stone remains impervious to moisture unless it is not be broken. Without conversion, evil resists even the mercy of God. Sin leads to death of conscience, dehumanization and permanent alienation.
Why would anyone remain in such a mortal condition? A homilist once told the story of a family in which the wife and mother had become accustomed to withdrawing from her husband and son at the slightest offense. A perceived remark or criticism sent him to his room, sometimes for days despite the apology. Once this behavior started, it became habitual, and the woman smoldered in her self-quarantine until she felt she had punished others enough. Then she would emerge and act as if nothing had happened. This persisted until she read her Bible during one of her seclusions and found today’s Gospel passage. She later confessed that she suddenly realized that pride and a sense of power prompted her behavior, and that as she reached for the doorknob to open the door, she felt like she was cutting off her hand to finally face her husband and son again and start talking about what she had done to control everyone.
This personal story, as special as it may seem, shows us how difficult but necessary it can be to change something that we realize is harmful to us and to others. Conversion may cost us dearly, but it is the only way out of hell.