Explaining, not Escaping Luke 9:24

    The readings for the 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Zec 12:10-11; 13:1; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Gal 3:26-29; and Lk 9:18-24  spark this reaction: “I hope this isn’t literally true.” The idea of denying oneself for Christ’s sake is hard enough. But when we read:

    “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”      

we are even more uncomfortable and want to escape the literal meaning. We hope that by interpreting the word “life” in metaphorical terms we can explain the text and interpret it in a more comfortable way.

    Here is an explanation that may make us equally uncomfortable.

    In his book The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation    Father Thomas Keating describes the process by which normal childhood coping strategies gradually become “programs for happiness.” While these programs are healthy in themselves they become dangerous when we are overly attached to them. These attachments come from one of three basic centers of energy or needs for

• Safety and Security
• Esteem and Affection
• Power and Control

    All of these are good things. They become bad things when they get identified with particular programs (having power, money, affection) they become disordered attachments – to the point where they are life-threatening. The television series Hoarders exploits our fascination with the sordid aspects of disordered attachments. 

    These attachments can take many forms. The New York Times just ran a front page story Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price.  Internet devices, the Times notes, can threaten the stability of families. Psychologist Gerald May puts it in modern terms in his book   Addiction and Grace in which he provides a list of the many forms that modern attachments can take.

  When the attachments become so strong that we see them as life itself, we will need to seek help. We may need to be willing to lose what we see as our life (the attachment) in order to save it. How do we become willing? If the attachment is gripping us tightly we will need outside help. Allowing ourselves to be challenged – and comforted - by today’s gospel is a good place to start.

P.S. I can understand why they did it, but it seems that the compliers of the lectionary erred when they stopped at Luke 9:24. Luke 9:25 adds:“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”