22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 12

What does it mean to be conformed to this world, something that Jesus warns us not to let happen to us? Certainly this has to do with our actions, but Jesus speaks here specifically about the renewal of our minds, so that we may know the will of God, and thus not be conformed to this world. The world, as Jesus speaks of it here, refers to a style of life, a way of acting, a way of thinking, judging, and evaluating that is in opposition to the will of God, leads away from God, and thus destroys man. Thus if we are not to be conformed to the world, we must not think like the world, judge as the world judges, when it comes to moral good and evil, act as the world acts. Otherwise, we will not ultimately belong to the Kingdom of Heaven.

St. Paul gives us a great example of the way in which Christian thinking, judging, and acting are in direct conflict with the world. I'm speaking here about Saint Paul's understanding of the body, and how it is to be evaluated, how we are to live in the body, and what the final purpose of the body really is. In this passage from Romans, St. Paul simply tells us what the purpose of the body really is, that the body like the soul is really intended to be a living sacrifice: present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. The body, then, is not only something that is good, but the body is intended by God to be something holy, a true, living sacrifice which we are to make to God. In other letters, Paul speaks of the body, not only as a living sacrifice, but also as a sacred temple, a place of worship, the place in which we give Glory to God. Indeed, the very purpose of the resurrection, is tied to this understanding of the body as a sacred temple, a living sacrifice, offered to God, for all eternity.

How different all this is from the world, the way the world looks at the body, evaluates the body, and what it sees to be the purpose of this body. The world sees the body as little more than a play thing, and object and a means of pleasure seeking, a means of contact with the world outside our minds. In the end, the world considers the body to be of really little value, disposable, exchangeable, something merely utilitarian, with no lasting destiny or purpose; something we are free to do with as we please, even free to change its fundamental structures, including its sexuality, and in the end put it to death as we please.

None of this is new of course, and that's why Saint Paul warns Christians not to be conforming to the world, and especially in the way the world looks at the body. Christians must be, transformed by the renewal of [your] mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Only if we truly submit our minds and our wills to God, by faith, will we ever truly know what is truly good, and what is truly acceptable and perfect, that is, what leads us to perfection and happiness in God. This command of St. Paul presupposes, of course, that Christians must undergo constant conversion, because they too are at times tempted to think like the world, and not like God.

This conversion or transformation of mind heart and action, does not occur without struggle, and that means does not occur without suffering, without the cross. The transformation of our mind is a painful process, requiring constant vigilance, and constant self-denial. What is at stake, here, is the very redemption of our bodies, and our souls. The transformation of the Christian simply cannot be accomplished without the cross. And this is what Jesus means when he says in today's Gospel:

"If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?"

Yes, whoever tries to save his life in this world, that is, by conforming himself to the world's way of thinking, and its value judgments, etc., will end up losing his life forever. Four when the son of man returns to judge the living and the dead, that person will not be recognized as belonging to Christ and his kingdom. In short, that person will be dead, we'll lose his true life and happiness forever. This is not an idle threat, but simply a statement of fact. One cannot belong to the kingdom of God while thinking and living like the world.

On the other hand, the man who loses his life in this world, that is, who gives up a life in conformity with the world - which will inevitably make him seem dead in the world's eyes - in truth this man has passed from death to life. The world considers him a dead man, considers his life not worth living, but the truth is quite the opposite. This man is alive and the world is dead.

How difficult it is for us sinners to escape from thinking like the world around us, living like the world around us, which appeals so strongly to our own sinfulness, because we think like the world, we also at times think of the Christian Life as more like death than life, as unappealing, as something we ought to put off as long as possible, so that we can enjoy life as long as possible. This is precisely what St. Paul is warning us against, and what Jesus is warning us requires the cross, suffering, constant self denial to overcome, lest we be dead men walking, yet thinking all the while that we are alive, when we are really dead.

For all of us, the time is short for making this decision - either Christ or the world, either thinking like the world or thinking like Christ. Yet on that decision our ultimate destiny is determined, death with the world, or life in Christ. It's really that simple. But there is nothing simple about actually making that choice, and living accordingly. That's why we constantly return to this altar, to learn here what real life is all about, to be strengthened and nourished by Life Himself, to be converted, to be transformed, to profess and celebrate the faith that has been given to us, and to seek and find the grace by which we are conformed to Christ, and not to the world. Amen