We had an unseasonably warm day here in the Midwestern United States, and after school, my son asked me to go out and play baseball. As we were throwing the ball back and forth, I saw his joy and the freedom we have to be able to do that without a care in the world, and I thought to myself, “I would sacrifice anything for him so he wouldn’t have to deal with the worries and problems of life. I would give anything for him to grow up in a world without hate, where he didn’t have to worry about mass shootings or terrorists or see things on TV like that which is occurring in Africa with Boko Haram or with ISIS in the middle east.”
He’s already asked the questions and knows that there are bad people, like a couple years ago when we stopped to visit the site in Pennsylvania in the U.S. where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001. He knows that something bad happened there, but yet he knows something good happened there as well. People on that airplane sacrificed their lives for the good of others. But yet, I would sacrifice everything if he did not have to grow up in a world where terror, mass shootings, and the like were not commonplace and all over the news.
Sacrifice can be defined in many ways, but a general definition is “an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.” To give up something for the sake of others. To do good, for our fellow neighbor, and for those we love, even if it means we have to lose something in return. Today’s readings are about sacrifice.
The first reading from the letter to the Hebrews talks about the priest Melchizedek, and how Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. And because we believe and are baptized in Christ, we share in this priesthood.
What does it meant o be a priest? Well, we can be called to the priesthood as we know them – we go to Seminary and undergo years of training and finally be ordained a priest. But another, general definition of a priest is a person whose office it is to perform religious rites, and especially to make sacrificial offerings.
We share in Christ’s priesthood and are called to sacrifice. But what are we to offer for sacrifice? Well, remember, sacrifice is giving up something good for the sake of others. We can do good deeds. We can give our time to those in need. We can give our money to the less fortunate. We can give our talents for the benefit of others. These are all good means of sacrifice.
But lets think about the ultimate sacrifice – God sacrificed His only Son for those He loved. Jesus sacrifice His life for His love of the human race. Not just the Jews. Not just the Gentiles. Everyone. And this leads us to the Gospel reading for today.
Mark writes about how Jesus offended the Pharisees by healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath because this violated the laws of working on the Sabbath day and we are to rest from all work on the Sabbath. But the thing is, as Mark writes earlier in his gospel, “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Another reflection I read put it this way – “God’s intention of the Sabbath is for us to do good and to save life rather than to do evil or to destroy life.” This is the point Jesus makes in todays gospel when He says,
“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”
God’s intention for the Sabbath is for us to give up something good, in exchange for something better. The Sabbath was made for us so that we could regroup and think about others one day a week. It’s a day where we are indeed supposed to rest from our work responsibilities or those things that stress us out, and spend time with those that we love. It’s a day where we spend time playing ball with our children, having a nice lunch with our spouse, or the evening dinner with friends and family. It’s about putting work and the hassles of life off for a day, and picking up with them on Monday.
And most importantly, it’s about going to Mass. Every Sunday, not just when we feel like it. Even if we live a life of service throughout the week and do amazing things for others, and give of ourselves, this does not exempt us from attending Mass on Sunday. If anything, we need it more. It’s a day where we spend time with Christ and receive him in the Eucharist, and spend a little extra time in prayer and worship.
The Sabbath is a day where we remind ourselves that we must love thy neighbor, and that we should sacrifice our time, our treasure, and our talents to help a brother or sister in need, not only on the Sabbath day, but every day. It’s a day where we sacrifice our time, no matter how good or righteous we think we are, for something better, spending an hour with Christ.
It’s a day where we relive the sacrifice that Jesus underwent for us, and where we are called to sacrifice something good in our lives, for something better in Him.
Sacrifice is the ultimate show of love. We are all called, as Christians, to make sacrificial offerings to God knowing that the sacrifices we make benefit someone around us. We are reminded by the Sabbath that Jesus sacrificed His life for all of us, and that we need to make the same sacrificial offerings for the good of others. This is what God wants us to do every day, and He uses the Sabbath to remind us.
But here’s the key – sacrifice not only helps someone else, it makes us better as well. We become better people when we give up our selfishness for the good of others.
As I think back to my son and what I would give for him to grow up healthy and safe, I know that he will face trials. But its through those trials, and the sacrifices he will have to make in the name of love that he will become a better man, and make the people around him better. It’s through this progression and transcendence of God’s love where we get the people that stand up to the terror and evil in this world, and do the good for the benefit of others.
It’s all about sacrificing things important to us for something greater – spreading the Love of God.
