Twenty-sixth Sunday - 2021

Today’s Second Reading comes from Chapter 5 of James. We have had five weeks of tough talk from James as our Second Reading in the Liturgy of the Word. James is speaking to converted Christians – those who embraced the gospel and are now followers of Jesus. He has been warning them of the danger of relapsing back into the corrupt ways of the world. In the gospel for today, Jesus has some tough things to say as well – his words are downright scary. Cutting off your hand, tearing out your eye – that there is a real possibility of going to hell: “… where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.” But have we not passed beyond talking about hell in our time in the Church? Is not our message today that our God is a God of mercy? “Don’t worry, God is a merciful God?”.  How are we to reconcile mercy with Jesus’ warning of going to hell? Mercy verses judgement. An example that I find helpful is to reflect on the dynamics of a drug addict and their councillor. The councillor approaches the addicted person with great compassion. Their message is clear. Yes, I love you, I will never stop working with you, I am here for you, right to the end if need be – but you are going to die a hellish death if you do not stop destroying yourself with your addiction. Perhaps we might say that there are few who are better able to describe what it’s like to be in the bondage of hell than someone trapped in addiction. And who is able to speak a more sobering word of wisdom than those in recovery. The root causes of addictions are complex but in the end the solution will have to be radical. An alcoholic will attest to this, “I must cut it off, my hand must never grasp a drink ever again.” We must never forget that God has created us with the responsibility of freedom of choice, freedom to choose how we will live our lives, freedom to choose where we want to spend our eternity. Like addicts of sin Jesus is warning us: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off - if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off - if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out – because if you do not stop …! This is the voice of a loving parent pleading with their wayward sons and daughters. This is the voice of loving mercy calling out from the cross, the sign and proof of the desire to forgive. Jesus will be there for us right up to the very last hour – what will we choose?