Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Gospel today goes deep into Christ our Light and his meaning for our lives! It was his humility which led him to the cross and that very humility which overcame Satan’s power and the evils of our world. Christ’s humility comes out of seeing His Father, God, as what really matters in this life.
This Gospel passage today pivots on whether one takes the short view of life or the long view, whether one sees his or her life in terms of immediate gratification or delayed gratification.
We see, of course, the immediate gratification displayed in the infant. Unfortunately, as life goes along, the grab for the immediate gratification can continue to show itself in our lives if we do not acquire the light and wisdom of discipline. It is expressed very nicely in our first reading in this sentence: “My child, conduct affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.”
Our push button age tends to engender in us an attitude of immediate gratification. ‘I want what I want and I want it now!’ This tends to cause inner stamina to grow weak, to shrivel-up. There is an unwillingness to put off to later a good that takes time to mature, for example, the good in relationships. The American frenzy for consuming – satisfying immediate wants – is a tragic turn away from satisfying the inner life of the person. Some idea of the tragic proportions of this human situation can be seen if one asks, which is more real – the broken arm my child has sustained – which will mend – or, a breach of trust in someone I have trusted.
Cardinal George wrote: “To define people on the basis of how much they can buy and consume destroys our sense of the person who discovers his genuine self through generosity and self-giving.”
Christ in the Eucharist – a memorial of his self-offering – leads us into sacrificial love:
(W)hether it is sacrificing the comfort of a good night’s sleep for the sake of caring for the baby [all the way to] entering into martyrdom for the sake of others, it is through sacrificial love that we obtain what the heart most desires: true and authentic love that is the fundamental basis of lasting happiness.
Or, see it in this story about a four-year-old child. The next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, ‘Nothing, I just helped him cry.’
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections