Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ

“Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:41-50

Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. “Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.”

How bad do you want to have eternal life? Jesus presents some pretty tough challenges in today’s gospel reading. The value of good works centers on our charitable acts of love. Helping our fellow man no matter who he is will in no way jeopardized our ability to get into heaven. However, causing others to sin or leading them away from God is the gravest sin of all. When we lead others from God, we are directly employed in the service of Satan. Satan’s goal is to lead us away from Christ. So when we lead others away from Christ, we are pleasing Satan. Today’s Gospel reading takes us much deeper. It is easy to see that causing others to separate themselves is a grave issue, but what about our own salvation. To what length must we be willing to do to avoid sin? If sin is what separates us from God, then we must be willing to separate ourselves from what leads us there. Just like a doctor must sometimes take drastic measures to save a patient’s life. We must be willing to take drastic steps to avoid sin. Jesus is telling us that we need to look for the root cause of our sins and like a doctor take action to save the body. Does this mean to literally cut off your hand our dig out your eye? No, it means we need to take serious action on anything that cause us to sin. Jesus says we need to purify ourselves. We need to be salted with fire. In ancient times, salt was a way to purify and the fire represents the Holy Spirit. Jesus is telling us that if we have sin within our lives then we need to purify ourselves with the salt of the Holy Spirit. We need to open our hearts to let the Holy Spirit cleanse us and remove those parts of our lives which lead us to the fires of Hell “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” The worm is the agony and remorse we will feel if we are separated from God and the fires are the torment we will feel while serving eternity in hell.

Where do you want to serve eternity. Our actions today, determine the outcome of our eternal life.

A Simple Prayer

Lord God, you are the salt which purifies my mind and body.

You send the Holy Spirit down upon us to heal us the sins which separate us.

Fill me with your grace and love so I can find true love with you in heaven.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon