Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 348

Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more...

Expecting to find ads promoting weight-loss programs and diet foods, I googled "no sacrifice." Instead I found songs, scripture quotes, and warlike videos and games promoting the life of sacrifice. Some of the images are quite fetching. 

The virtue of sacrifice is out there, popular among young people. I suppose I am more familiar with the ads aimed at my age group, who've had it with sacrifice and expect, and think they deserve, rewards for past sacrifices, real and imagined. 

I am also more familiar with those religious promises which assure a better, easier way of life in righteous living. "Just say no!" should open the way to productive study, advancing careers, and eventual prosperity in the burbs. ""Early to bed and early to rise," said Ben Franklin, "makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." 

This practical advice equates goal-directed discipline with sacrifice and its assured rewards. The latter are not unlike Jesus's promise of "houses and brothers and sisters, and mothers and children and lands, and eternal life in the age to come." All three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) agree on this list of material blessings. 

Only the more sober Mark inserts, as the penultimate gift before eternal life, "persecutions." 

Beginning in January, and resuming today, our weekday gospels are taken from the Gospel according to Saint Mark. They will carry us into June. Biblical scholars believe Mark was written in Rome during a time of severe persecution. His dark descriptions of bewildered, unfaithful disciples and the mounting opposition of religious and civil authorities fits the Christian experience in Rome. The life of fidelity to God is certainly better, but don't expect the world to fall down in amazed admiration at your feet. Expect, if anything, their violent opposition. 

That ancient message is just as sobering for us today, especially as parents and teachers urge their children and students to be as innocent as lambs and as wise as serpents in their choice of companions and their use of social media. Even a passing acquaintance with daily news must terrify the guardians of our youth. How are they supposed to guide children when loyalty to the Lord promises no earthly rewards? It doesn't promise popularity, marketability, or wealth.

But sacrifice and discipline also apply to those who expect a third life of retirement. In fact, it doesn't get easier with the passage of time. Often, the aging body only wants to sit down. We amuse ourselves with, "Never put off till tomorrow what can be done the next day." and, "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." Too many idle days might cancel a lifetime of virtue. 

Fortunately, the Holy Spirit helps us maintain the religious habits of a lifetime. We now pray more attentively, more aware of our need for God's mercy. We listen more closely to the scriptures and the words of prayer. We sign ourselves with the cross more deliberately; and genuflect -- if we're able -- with more determination. ("..every knee shall bow!")  

No one said it should get easier; and if they did, they were wrong. The news media show the constant threats of natural disasters to the weak, vulnerable, and elderly; and the danger of criminals online and in our quiet neighborhoods. Prey to these warnings, the unwary are afraid to go outside or to attend church. Although they have the time and the desire, they fear to attend the cathedrals which are invariably downtown. 

Again, the Holy Spirit fairly shouts at us, "Do not be afraid." Fear exaggerates danger, encourages foolish behavior, and isolates the lonely. Fear is is the policy of fools, and drives both politics and the economy; it should be alien to disciples of Jesus. 

Often, on Tuesday morning, the Office of Reading begins with Psalm 37. 

Do not be provoked by evildoers;

do not envy those who do wrong.

Like grass they wither quickly;

like green plants they wilt away.

Trust in the LORD and do good

that you may dwell in the land and live secure.

Find your delight in the LORD

who will give you your heart’s desire.,,,

I recommend Psalm 37, its reading and recitation. It's a wisdom psalm, a series of proverbs arranged by the Hebrew alphabet, with a constant refrain of reassurance. Because we learned to trust in God in our youth, it serves us well in our old age.