September 3, 2017

22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 3)

“Lose Your Life to Find It”

Msgr Thomas Gervasio

based on reflections of Fr. R. Cantalamessa (Gettate le Reti)
 
In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus say, “If someone wishes to follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. He who wishes to save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake, will find it.”
 
Now I must confess, when I come to this teaching of the Lord, I am tempted to turn the page, to move on to passages that are more consoling. It is hard to accept such words when we are immersed in a culture that tells us that what is important is self-affirmation, that we “feel good,” and avoid pain at all costs. We prefer a “casual Christianity.”
 
What does it mean to “deny oneself?” Let’s first make a distinction. Jesus does not ask us to deny “what we are” but to deny “what we have become.” Self-denial is not self-rejection. We are created in the image of God and God himself stated that man and woman were good. So we must not deny what God has done, but what we have done through the bad use of our free will. In other words, we must renounce the evil tendencies, the sin, and all those things that are like encrustations that cover our original form. When we do this, we rediscover who we really are. This is why Jesus says, “Whoever loses his life will find it.”
 
Think of the restoration that often takes place in the world of art and architecture. Over the centuries, many things can cover over a great work of art. Only after the painstaking process of removing the covering does the original beauty of a work appear.
 
There are paintings that with the passage of time have been so darkened by grime, dust, and candle smoke that one can barely distinguish the figures. The restoration of Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel comes to mind. The removal of centuries-old layers of grime revealed the vivid masterpiece as intended by the master.
 
We resemble, in the spirit, those frescoes prior to their restoration. The beautiful image of God that we should be is covered often by seven layers of oxidation that are the seven capital sins. It is not bad to call them to mind if we have forgotten them: pride, avarice, lust, gluttony, anger, envy, and sloth. Saint Paul calls this the “earthly image” as opposed to the “heavenly image” which is our resemblance with Christ. “Denying oneself” leads not to death but to life, beauty and joy.
 
Let’s be a little more concrete. “Denial” means very simply learning how to say “no.”
 
There is a TV show that is especially violent or clearly immoral…your curiosity tells you: “Go ahead watch it; after all you are an adult and not a child. What harm can it do?” You say, “No, why should I dirty my heart and eyes?" That is self-denial that leads to life.
 
A friend offers you marijuana, drugs. Even here a strong voice pushes you to accept, even if it is only one time so that you could know what it is like. You say no. That is a self-denial that leads to life
 
You are at table and tempted to eat everything in sight or a friend says, “Go on, take another drink.” You know you shouldn’t. You use moderation and say “Enough.” That is self-denial that is life giving, life preserving.
 
Simmering in you is anger about something that happened at home or at work. You take hold of yourself, you calm down before you speak. Self-denial leads to life and harmony in our relations at home and elsewhere.
 
What has to “die” in us? The way of Christ is the way of self-denial, sacrifice, mortification. May the Lord grant us the grace to undergo that painstaking process of removing those “encrustations” so that we might reveal the beautiful image of God in us.