S-O-S Sunday!
Sirach 27:4-7; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-42
If ships in distress usually send out S-O-S (Save Our Ship) distress call, it is not a bad idea for Christians to send out Save-our-Souls distress call because the practice of Christianity is in distress and needs salvaging. The reality, though, is not the search for a rescue ship or a rescue holy Christian; on the contrary, sinful and weak Christians are the ones to redeem themselves alongside other bad Christians because no one is good but God alone!
Three ironies go through each of the three readings of this Sunday and require close reading for their meaning (singular) to become obvious. Our first reading says that the sins of an orator is detected in his oratory. It goes on to say that the sin of a potter or inventor is in his invention. Thirdly, it concludes that sin always comes from a sinner, the way a fruit comes from a fruit tree! The long and short of the three ironies is the fact that no one is free of sin; sin clings to each one of us, so no one has the right to call another person but him/herself a sinner.
Our gospel reading also contains three sets of ironies. It argues that the destination of all blind people is a pit, without the help of a person with eyesight! The second irony is that all eyes either contain a “splinter” or a “log” that can only be removed by asking for help! Thirdly, the tragedy of life is when a disciple refuses instructions from his/her teacher and claims superiority to the teacher!
To point out the meaning of the ironies of our first and gospel readings, our second reading provides the sole and credible solution to sin — victory in Jesus Christ! The first irony is victory over the flesh. The second is possession of clothes to cover one’s nudity. And, third, fidelity to doing the work of the Lord is our victory over sin.
S-O-S Sunday invites every Christian to an introspection: what is my sin(s) or weakness(es)? Having located our sin, then, Jesus offers us this precious advice: “Remove the wooden beam from your own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye”.
What is obvious is that sin is ubiquitous and no one is free of it. This is the meaning of all the ironies in our first and gospel readings. Sin is inside us and reveals itself in our speeches, inventions, etc. Because of sin, Jesus says: “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
S-O-S Sunday encourages us to spend more time correcting our own sins and fighting our weaknesses than criticizing others, because we are all sinners. The point of today’s readings is this: if you get yourself out of your sins and everyone else does so, there will no longer be sinners to criticize! The list of sinners increases because we fail to work on transforming our attachments to sin into our desire for holiness and good behavior!
There is only one problem with sin – we imitate other sinners! And, there is only one solution to the problem of sin — we must imitate Jesus Christ. This is how Jesus says it today: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher”. The blind leading the blind are sinners leading other sinners and both are condemned to the same fate — the pit of hell! However, every sinner who takes Jesus Christ as his teacher and learns to imitate Jesus Christ is on his way out of sin into union with God!
S-O-S Sunday convinces us that the victory over sin is possible; that Jesus Christ has given us the power to become victors over sin. Paul summarizes our potential victory in these words: “Death is swallowed up in victory”. When we imitate Jesus Christ and become like him in our behavior, “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain”, then our victory is guaranteed!
S-O-S Sunday makes every authentic Christian a co-redeemer NOT a savior. A redeemer is everyone ready to pay the price for sin, including his. The deliberate choice to imitate Jesus Christ in order to be victorious over sin and win immortality makes every authentic Christian a co-redeemer. If Christ has offered humanity salvation on a platter of gold, our appreciation of the gift of salvation should be matched with our desire and steps taken to be holy, which is the individual’s price for redemption.
To redeem our sight from blindness to sin, to redeem us from our condemnation to yielding rotten fruits and sinful oratory, let us recognize our sinfulness and ask God for the grace to imitate Jesus Christ instead of the world.
Indeed, Save-Our-Souls starts from our individual decision to do something about our eternal salvation, then God’s mercy and compassion will meet us halfway!
Assignment for the Week:
Find a biblical figure with a lifestyle contrary to your sin/weakness to imitate, though Jesus is always the best model!