Separate Ourselves from Sinful Situations

Homily for Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

The lengths to which Jesus asks us to go to remove the things in our life that lead us to sin is expressed in very extreme language. Plucking out our eyes or severing parts of our bodies would be extreme. However, when we look for meaning in Jesus’ words, there are several things that we must take into consideration.

First, deformity such as birth defects or blindness or deafness would be viewed differently in the world of the first century Jew than they would be viewed in our time. Such physical deformities would be considered punishments for sins committed by oneself or possibly by one’s parents. Such deformities would limit their ability to participate in the sacred rituals of the temple and participation in the communal synagogues. What Jesus is suggesting in these verses is that it is better to be excluded from these earthly situations than to be excluded from the Kingdom of God.

Jewish law demanded that animals that were sacrificed on the altar of the temple had to be without blemish or defect. This was also true of anyone who served at the altar such as a member of the House of Levi, the priestly tribe of Israel. Until just a few years ago, such defects would also have excluded men from pursuing the priesthood in our church. Until the change of canon law in the 1980’s, men and women who were epileptic were not allowed to be members of religious orders.

However, there is another way to interpret the words of Jesus from today’s Gospel. He is asking us to separate ourselves from anything that would lead us to sin. While the Gospel text mentions bodily functions and members, we can also apply this to emotions such as jealousy, pride, or greed. In the first reading for today’s liturgy from the Letter of James, he takes to task men who exploit laborers and make themselves rich on the backs of the poor. The words of Jesus would certainly apply to such people.

So, while the language of today’s Gospel text is extreme, the intent behind it is certainly applicable in our lives. If there is anything that is leading us away from the Kingdom of God, we must eliminate it from our lives.