Twenty-second of Year A - Love=Commitment=Self-sacrifice=The Cross
August 2008
Until I came to work in England I never came up against the attitude to God illustrated best by the following remark coming from people who have given up on God and religion.
‘My wife, husband, child , parent etc. got sick or was involved in an accident or lost their job etc. and I prayed and prayed to God to fix things up and God did nothing to help. So what’s the point?’
I never encountered this attitude either in the Ireland of my youth or in Africa.
Whether this was because of their attitude towards God (their faith) or because life was difficult and things were expected to go wrong, I do not know - probably a little of both.
Many people here in England want God and religion but minus the commitment, minus the road to Calvary, minus the crucifixion.
The three readings today hammer home the point that love involves commitment and commitment involves self-sacrifice and self-sacrifice involves pain and suffering.
This is what Christianity, this is what all true religion is about.
Any married couple who have been committed to each other for a long period of time will understand this and why it is all worth while.
God is not the ‘Mr. Fix it‘. God is not the ‘fairy godmother.’
Many people would ask ‘if this is so why bother with God and religion?’
One could also ask ‘why give up the carefree life as a single man or woman and take on marriage and children with all its commitments and self-sacrifice?’
The answer to both questions is the same.