Did You Say, “Die”?

Friday, August 10, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081018.cfm

Today, in Mercy, on this feast of St. Lawrence, our readings are all about wheat. Then, again, they’re really not.

The readings, of course, are about eternal life – lessons taught in symbols the listeners could relate to. The agrarian community of Jesus’ time understood clearly what happened to a grain of wheat when buried in the rich soil. They understood, too, how a single grain, fallen on the barn floor and lost underfoot, had no hope of life.

It is a powerful lesson about community, selflessness, and what we need to do to live a full and meaningful life. 

We have to die —  to our isolation, self-absorption, greed, objectification and domination over others, “me-firstness”. 

Basically, we have to resist the Seven Deadly Sins that make life “all about me”: 

• Self-adulating pride

• Vengeful anger

• Depersonalizing lust

• Ungrateful envy

• Consumeristic gluttony

• Mean Greed

• Irresponsible laziness
  

To move beyond these sins, we must recognize, respect and care for others – all others – as children of God.

If we can do that, our grain of wheat will land in harmony with the faith community and will contribute to its abundant life – and to our own. That faith community might be as small as my family or as big as the world. But unless I live there in selflessness, I will never come to my full potential a human being.

Musical reflection: A Grain of Wheat ~ Torchbearers