Live Soberly

Homily for Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Toward the end of today’s reading from the First Letter of St. Peter, we read words that may seem strange to us: “Gird up the loins of your mind.” In order to understand what St. Peter is asking in this admonition, we must cast our minds back to the night before the Israelites were released from Egypt; it was commonly known as the Passover when every family was to roast a lamb and “To eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand. You will eat it in a hurry. It is the LORD’s Passover.”

Those who have studied this letter of St. Peter have come to the conclusion that it is probably a sermon that was delivered on the occasion of a baptism. We know that God’s plan to deliver the slaves of Egypt is often used as a proleptic passage for Christian baptism. Just as the Israelites walked through the Red Sea, we go down into the waters of baptism and are led to our salvation as we rise from them.

“Live soberly,” St. Peter admonishes this community. “Set your hopes completely on the grace” that comes to us through the revelation of Christ Jesus. At the beginning of this letter, St. Peter had called the gift of faith more precious than gold. He commended them for putting their faith in Jesus even though they had not seen him. However, the words that we read today are a little more somber as they look forward to a time when the faith of the Christian community will be put to the test through suffering and persecution.

St. Mark also includes the word “persecution” in today’s Gospel text when speaking of the rewards that will be accorded those who make their faith a priority in their lives before all manner of human wealth and even human relationships. The history of the Christian community in the first four centuries is replete with incidents of suffering and persecution. Consequently, we should not find it strange that the Gospels as well as the texts written by the apostles should mention these disturbing times.

“Live soberly.” This advice is pertinent to our own day. We have just concluded our fifty-day celebration of the Paschal mystery, and we are already hearing admonitions that our faith will be tested by the world. Living soberly means that we must practice our faith in our day-to-day lives so that the graces that have been earned through the death and resurrection of Jesus will bear much fruit in each of our lives.