Choose Life and Live

02-12-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Anthony Okolo, C.S.Sp, V.F.

In the first reading from the book of Sirach, Ben Sirach tells us to choose between life and death. What it means is that it is in the capacity of human beings to choose what they want in life. God does not interfere with our human freedom.

He has given us the will and intellect to choose how we wish to live our life. If we choose life the road is there for us whereas when we choose death the door is equally open. We are alive if we live our lives in God and we are dead if we cut ourselves away from God. We are alive when we recognize that we are created in the image and likeness of God and live our lives in such a way that God becomes the center of our lives.

According to Fr. Walter J. Burghardt, a Jesuit scholar, “I am not genuinely alive simply because there is life in me. Simply because I watch a time clock from nine to five, or a late show from eleven thirty to one. Simply because my standard of living is high, my cholesterol low. The point is that I am not genuinely alive simply because I am not medically dead. For, in the Christian vision, to live is to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He Sent”. (Jn 17:3)

The same theme of choosing life is echoed in the gospel reading of today. Jesus, in the Gospel, which is part of the Sermon of the Mount we have been hearing for the past two weeks, establishes not merely what you should not do if you want to win life. He goes deeper to point beyond wrong conduct to the sources of evil conduct. For all the evil life destroying deeds prohibited by the Ten Commandments arise from evil thought, which at first manifest themselves in evil words before they lead to evil actions. Thus, if we are to be genuinely alive Jesus prescribes for us a root treatment, and He encourages us to begin with ourselves. There must be a renewal of hearts, of attitudes, of the very foundation of our behavior. Thus, He names three major areas in which we need to purify ourselves.

First, conflict management. It is not enough simply to abstain from murder. Much more common is the homicide of the heart, of the thought of hate, rage, and displeasure at another person, which express themselves in character assassination and hurtful words to another. Secondly, is adultery which begins with lack of discipline of the eyes and the heart. It goes into our disdaining of marriage, the life relationship with the other person, and deceiving our own spouse long before it comes to outright adultery. Finally, the reliability of our words, our truthfulness. He who resorts to swearing is already acknowledging that he usually does not play straight with truth. Our hearts should be upright: a “Yes” should be a “Yes” a “No” should be a “No”. Only on such honest people can you rely.

It is when we order our lives in such a way in God’s truth can we be genuinely alive. Happy Sunday to you all and God bless you.

Fr. Tony Okolo C.S.Sp., V.F.

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