26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B 2024

Growing up, we always had a fire extinguisher in the house, and my dad made periodic inspections to make sure it was in perfect working condition.  One day, that preparation paid off when one of my brothers accidentally set my mom’s craft room on fire.  Thankfully, my dad was able to put out the flames just in time.  I can’t imagine what might have happened if we hadn’t been prepared.

Just like regular inspections of fire extinguishers need to be done, we need to make regular inspections of our spiritual lives and our relationship with Jesus.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us about three spiritual danger zones—our hand, foot, and eye—and tells us to eliminate anything that causes us to sin (Mark 9:43–47).  He’s urging us to do a kind of “spiritual safety inspection” and take action, cutting off whatever leads us away from God.

The Hand: What Are We Grasping For?

The first danger zone is the hand.  There’s an old saying: "Idle hands are the devil’s playground."  When we don’t have productive and healthy outlets for our desires, we often end up in trouble.  Jesus reminds us that it’s not what’s outside that makes us unclean, but what comes from within (Mark 7:15).  Our hands grasp for what our hearts desire.  We express interior temptations externally through our actions.

We all have a ‘witching hour’ when we’re vulnerable—maybe when we’re tired, stressed, lonely, or hungry.  It’s in those moments we might reach for unhealthy or sinful things.  When I am tempted to drink excessively, my hand reaches for the bottle.  When I am tempted to laziness, my hand might reach for my phone to waste excessive amounts of time.  Instead of mindlessly grasping for what won’t satisfy, we need to make an action plan.  Fill that time with something better—exercise, prayer, reading, or reaching out to a friend.

The Foot: What Path Are We Walking?

The second danger zone is the foot.  Our feet set us on a path, and if we want joy, we must walk the path that leads to God.  Think of all the biblical examples of people moving away from God.  Jonah ran in the opposite direction when God called him to preach repentance in Nineveh.  Saul set out to persecute Christians, only to be stopped by Jesus, who asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).

Even the man in the parable of the Good Samaritan took the wrong road, traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, where he was robbed and beaten.  Jerusalem is symbolic of being close to God whereas Jericho is symbolic of being distant from Him.  Spiritually speaking, when we choose the wrong path, we open ourselves up to danger and sin.

I think of Bishop Baraga, the founding bishop of our diocese, who walked miles and miles to bring Jesus to the people of the Upper Peninsula.  He set his feet on the path God called him to and followed it faithfully.  The question for us is this: Where are our feet leading us?  Are we walking toward God’s will for our lives, or away from Him?  There’s no neutral ground in the spiritual life.  Each decision we make points our feet either toward God or away from Him.

The Eye: What Are We Seeking?

The last danger zone is the eye.  Our eyes have seen things they shouldn’t have.  But at the same time, our eyes desire to see something they haven’t yet: the fullness of truth, goodness, and beauty.  All of these are found in God.  At the end of our earthly life, our ultimate goal is to see God face-to-face in the beatific vision.

St. Cyprian gives us a glimpse of what awaits: “How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light...  to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's friends” (Epistle 58).

If we have a goal in life, we’ll go to great lengths to keep our eyes focused on it.  Think again of Bishop Baraga.  After the deaths of both his parents, he stood to inherit a great estate, and he was even engaged to be married.  But as he spent more time in prayer and receiving the sacraments, he began to see God tugging at his heart.  At 24, he broke off his engagement and surrendered his inheritance.  He entered the seminary and was ordained two years later.  He saw beyond his immediate desires and recognized God’s greater plan for him.

God could never have brought him to the Upper Peninsula if he hadn’t looked beyond what was in front of him.  His eyes were opened to see what God wanted to give him.  What are our eyes focused on?  Are we keeping our sight fixed on God’s ultimate plan for our lives, or are we distracted by what’s right in front of us?

Just as we wouldn’t let a broken fire extinguisher sit unused, we can’t afford to let our spiritual lives go unchecked.  Jesus’ warning is clear: if your hand, foot, or eye causes you to sin, cut it off or pluck it out.  Why?  Because nothing is more important than our path to God.

Faith isn’t just something we know; it’s something we live.  As St.  John Paul II said, “Faith is a decision involving one's whole existence… not simply a set of propositions to be accepted with intellectual assent” (Veritatis Splendor, 88).  We need to act on our faith.  We must have the courage to make changes in our lives that will bring us closer to Jesus.  Only one thing is necessary, and anything that compromises our pursuit of God must go.

So, just like we perform regular safety inspections to protect our homes, let’s do the same for our souls.  Let’s cut off whatever holds us back from God, trusting that His grace will sustain us.