Giving your life as a ransom

Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
March 3, 2010

Today's Readings:
Jeremiah 18:18-20
Ps 31:5-6, 14-16
Matthew 20:17-28
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_03.mp3

Giving your life as a ransom

Do you want to be like Jesus? Really?!

Most of us are like Zebedee's sons in today's Gospel story. We think we want to follow Christ, i.e., we think we're willing to drink of the same cup he did – especially in moments when we feel excited about our faith because of a great liturgy or an inspirational parish mission or an awesome prayer experience during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus invites us to take his cup and drink from it, and we say yes, of course, we want everything that he offers. But then we throw down his cup because it tastes so bitter!

It's very distasteful to serve "the needs of all" as Jesus tells us we must. Aspiring to greatness in the spiritual life means imitating Jesus all the way to the cross, all the way to giving our lives as a ransom for others, all the way to giving up our comfort zones so that we can go to the aid of others, all the way to giving up our personal agendas for the sake of the afflicted. We prefer mediocrity, and so we settle for a less demanding spiritual life. We put ourselves at the center of our faith, not the cross of Christ.

Jesus is the ransom, the sacrifice, the Savior and Redeemer. For this reason, you and I have been rescued from the torments of separation from God. But there is more to our salvation than this. We cannot grow spiritually unless we put our faith into action, and that means imitating Jesus all the way to where it counts the most, which is on the cross. This is where our love for God is proven and matured. This is where our love for others makes the biggest difference.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah experienced this kind of suffering. As we see in today's first reading, he was hated for speaking the truth, but he continued his ministry, because he cared about the straying Israelites.

When others sin against us, if we forgive them, we hang on the cross with Jesus, saying with him, "Father forgive them, for they don't understand." Such undeserved love is how we ransom our lives for the sake of others. We forgive them (we let go of the grudge and pray that God will bless them) no matter whether they start treating us right or not, even if we cannot remain in that person's life.

We forgive them, not because we'll get a loving, healthy response that will make us happy (which often does not happen), but because we want to follow Jesus. We want to be holy.

When we pray the "Our Father," we ask God to forgive us as much as we forgive others. That binds us to the "contract" of love. God will forgive us only as much as we forgive others. Even so, we don't forgive others to make God forgive us; we forgive because we are ransoming our lives because we care, like Jesus.

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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