5th Sunday of Lent
Cycle B
March 21, 2021
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 8am
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 11am
Paradox
This morning I am focused on the word paradox.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a paradox as a statement that seems to be contradictory or opposed to common sense, and yet is perhaps true. An example of a familiar paradox may be the saying: “Less is more,” or the saying, “If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.”
So, a statement that seems to be contradictory or opposed to common sense, and yet is perhaps true.
Paradox in the Gospels
I got thinking about this because some of Jesus’ statements or teachings are paradoxes.
In today’s gospel, we hear two of them. Jesus says: “Whoever loves their life loses it, and whoever hates their life in this world will preserve it.”
The second paradox in this passage is prompted by Jesus’ image of a seed planted in the earth. “If you die, you produce much.”
And then, three other paradoxes in the gospels jump out to me. Maybe there are more, but these are the ones that I notice.
Jesus says: “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” And then: “Whoever wish to be great among you will be your servant.”
And finally: “Whoever exalt themselves will be humbled, and whoever humble themselves will be exalted.”
Jesus and Paradox
So, five paradoxes: statements that seem contradictory or opposed to common sense, and yet are perhaps true.
Underneath these five paradoxes of Jesus, I see one significant lesson, one important spiritual truth.
The Lesson from the Paradoxes
Stated negatively, we are not to live just for ourselves.
Yes, there is one point where Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So, no question, taking care of ourselves and pursuing our dreams and goals are good things.
We all want to seek our fulfillment in life. And we will probably live our days with a plan of what we want to do.
But, in these paradoxes, stated positively, Jesus is teaching us to keep a balance, almost an equality in our living for self and for others.
So, don’t get so wrapped up in myself that there is really no space for others. Make sure that the needs of others are a concern to me.
Make sure that my own comforts and preferences don’t always have to come first. Don’t be holding myself as above or as more important than others.
Instead, think about how can I get to my son’s or daughter’s soccer game. Let go of, or die to my own desire just to hang out and do nothing this evening.
Instead make a phone call to my neighbor who just got out of the hospital. And beyond my immediate world, be alert to how can we assist the last, the least, and the lost here in Maryland or anywhere.
I see this teaching – a balance, an equality in living for self and for others – I see this as lying beneath the paradoxes that Jesus speaks.
Conclusion
And, if we try to live these paradoxes, we discover their truth.
I bet that each of us has experienced this. We find and don’t lose life and a fullness of life.
We produce and accomplish a great deal when we die a bit to our own desires. We experience ourselves as great, as first, and as exalted but in a different way – in an inner way, in our inner sense of self, and in our inner relationship with God.
So, Jesus’ paradoxes are statements that seem to be contradictory or opposed to common sense, but our experience can tell us that they are true.
