In the Gospel today we see St. Luke talking about those who followed Jesus, including some very wealthy women who helped to fund their mission. Luke talks about women a lot. That’s good. We never can forget that without them not only can we not function as a Church, but we are missing a good section of what it means to be human in the first place. In Mary Magdalene, we see the true example of discipleship. It says that Jesus cast out 7 demons. That has a huge amount of significance! 7 is the Biblical number of perfection. That means that first, Mary was completely and utterly given over to sin. And second? Jesus Christ can free us perfectly and completely, even from total possession and oppression. Later we find Mary being the very first to see the Risen Jesus in the Scriptures and being the first “apostle to the apostles” and delivering the Gospel of His resurrection to the Apostles themselves.
This is entirely what life should look like in all aspects. It calls us to a radical divergence from what the world would tell us to seek after and find. The world calls us to seek after what Thomas Aquinas called the four spheres of influence: power, wealth, honor, and pleasure. The Gospel tells us to only seek after Jesus. I like to call this Catholic Minimalism. It doesn’t mean you have to be poor, take a vow of poverty, give up all your possessions, or size down to a 900 square foot home. What it means is that everything we have and use should be to further the kingdom of God, whether it be money or talents. That like the women in the Gospel, we should be following God’s will and supporting the coming of His Kingdom here and now. That we should be allowing Jesus to work in our lives to remove any obstacles that stand between us and His kingdom. Also that we should realize that complete healing isn’t something we do, but something He does for us.
The Psalm reminds us that when a man dies “he shall take none of it” with him. Paul in the letter reminds us that we come into this world with nothing, and we can’t drag it behind us to the life to come. What all of this means is exactly what John said in his first epistle: “have no love for the world, nor the things the world affords.” I have a saying I like to remember when I am struggling when all else seems to be falling apart: Just love Jesus. That is Catholicism in a nutshell. Everything we do, everything we say, every Mass, prayer, genuflection, Sacrament, and Sacramental.
The Korean Martyrs, Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions understood that. Rather than turning away from their faith in the face of pain and suffering, they gave their lives for Jesus. Some of the women being stripped naked and thrown into the prisons with criminals. One man even leaving the country, only to come back and publicly profess his faith resulting in his torture and death. In total 103 people gave their lives for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in martyrdom, mostly laypeople like you and me. 47 laywomen and 45 laymen.
That is just loving Jesus.
A reflection on the reading for September 20th, 2019: Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs