Today’s Readings
I am not a fan of Meryl Streep as an actress. I will have to admit that she is an extremely gifted actress as can be seen in her role in the movie “Sophie’s Choice”. But that is exactly why I do not like her…because of her ability to nail a role so well. What? That doesn’t make sense, does it? It does if you have seen her in the movie “Kramer vs Kramer”. In the movie she plays Joanna Kramer, the wife of Ted Kramer, played by Dustin Hoffman. The couple has a young boy named Billy who is very attached to his Mom. Ted is a high powered corporate guy working in advertising with not much time for his family. Joanna decides that she has to leave Ted to “find herself”. She walks out on him suddenly along with leaving behind Billy. Ted is not prepared to be a Father. His life, his WHOLE life, is his job. Billy is an afterthought. But now he is thrown into parenting. To caring for his son. Over time the two develop a strong bond. In order for this to have taken place, Ted had to quit his high paying, high stress job and take a lower paying one with less responsibilities so that he could care for, and have a life with, Billy. Then Joanna returns and wants her son back, taking Ted to court to do so. In the end, Joanna sees what Ted has sacrificed in his personal life to build a life with Billy. He chose the more important thing. Here is a clip from the movie. It is a bit long but shows Ted essentially groveling for a job that is beneath him so that he can keep his son:
In today’s Gospel from the 12th chapter of Matthew Jesus makes this claim:
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
At first glance this makes very little sense. Why would anyone want to hate his life. Is Jesus telling us that we must be miserable in our time here on earth in order to attain eternal life with Him? Not at all. He is making a point about priorities. Where do out priorities lie? Are they caught up in power, pleasure, fame and wealth or is our main focus on building a relationship with Him? He isn’t asking us to give up our jobs or hobbies that we love. In chapter 4 of Philippians Paul tells us: “Always be joyful in the Lord! I’ll say it again: Be joyful!“
So we are in no way being told to be sad and miserable in our lives. God gave us all that is good and expects us to enjoy the world He has created. But not to the exclusion of our relationship with Him. And with each other. When Elise and I first lived in Pennsylvania in the 80s we absolutely loved it here. We could have easily stayed for the rest of our lives. But things changed when our first daughter was born. We needed for them to get to know and be close to family and we also needed to give them opportunities that we thought they could get back in Chicago. So we left the mountains to return to the suburbs. We had considered moving to my home in New Jersey but Elise just did not fit in there and I knew she would not be happy. So Chicago it was. Sacrifice is love and love is sacrifice. We must die a bit to ourselves…to love Christ and our neighbors more than out own interests. This is what Jesus meant by hating your life if you want to follow Him in a new life.
Ted Kramer loved being a successful businessman. But he learned the value of sacrificing himself for his son. And isn’t this what Christ is asking each one of us to do? For each other and for an eventual life with Him.
