Feast of St. Lawrence
August 10, 2015 8:30am
The dictionary defines a paradox
as a statement that seems contradictory but may be true.
So, in our Christian or Catholic
faith, there seem to be some paradoxes.
For example, to say that God is
one or that there is only one God but that there are three persons in God;
to say that Jesus is both human
and divine at the same time;
to say that Mary as virgin gave
birth to Jesus.
These are statements that seem
contradictory, but we believe that they are true.
They are core pieces of our
faith.
Today’s gospel contains another
paradox.
To live, we must die.
If we cling to our life, we will
lose it.
If we let it go, we will keep it.
The teaching of “losing” to
“gain” might at first seem like a paradox, but a little reflection shows that
it is not.
Jesus uses a simple farm or even
gardening image to demonstrate it.
The seed must die in the soil to
live.
We know that we have to die to
childhood to reach adulthood.
Individuals die to a certain kind
of freedom and leisure to embrace another person in the new life of marriage
and then of parenthood.
We let go of our pride at times
in order to gain reconciliation in a relationship.
So, Jesus’ teaching seems like a
paradox but it isn’t.
He is saying that in our
discipleship, in our following him, we will experience this “losing” and
“gaining.”
Very simply, we may lose
ourselves by no longer living just for what is easy and comfortable and
popular, but we will gain much peace and joy and fullness of life in doing
this.
