Grow Up!

 

10^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

Gn 3:9-15, 2 Cor 4:13—5:1,  Mk 3:20-35

 

I saw a really adorable video this week of a three-year-old girl whose father was questioning her about why she painted her entire Barbie doll with blue nail polish. He would ask her, “Why did you paint your Barbie with nail polish?” And she kept saying, “She told me to do it, and I told her hundreds of times no.” She was crying and anguished. Every time her father patiently questioned her about what she had done she kept repeating, “I told her hundreds of times no, but she kept telling me to do it.” I think we have all experienced this with little ones. This father had a really hard time not busting up. She was so innocent and so sincere. We expect that type of thing from kids. We know they don’t know any better. We know they aren’t really responsible for their actions at that age. They’re just trying to get out of it.

 

Passing the buck is our first instinct. When asked why he ate the forbidden fruit, Adam said he was just doing what Eve told him to do. No questioning it; she gave it to him so he ate it. And he tells God, “It was the woman, who you put here, who did it.” And it really wasn’t Eve’s fault either, the serpent tricked her. Nobody takes any responsibility for what they did. The serpent was the only honest one. He knew what he was doing. He was just doing his job.

 

Today we see the entire spectrum of moral development, starting with the first Adam and ending with the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The development of our own moral lives follows a pattern. The first sin was pride. You will become like gods. Totally self-centered. So, at this end of the continuum, we have pride. Everything’s about me. At the other end we have mercy. Jesus considers everyone to be his brothers and sisters.

 

In the middle of the maturation process we move through stages of growth from self-centeredness to awareness of others and our relationships with them, to the realization that we are all interdependent with one another and are all responsible for one another. And it has nothing to do with age. There is a big difference between a 20 year old TikTok influencer who posts suggestive selfies all day and the 20 year old army Ranger scaling the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day. There is an overlap in our personal growth curves and our spiritual growth curves when we understand our need for forgiveness. We cannot receive forgiveness just by forgiving ourselves. We need to be forgiven, by God and by those we have sinned against. We can move to forgiveness when we experience forgiveness. We can move to mercy when we feel God’s mercy towards us. The morally mature person gives and receives mercy willingly.

 

This story is the story of us all. It takes so very long, oftentimes our entire lives, to fully mature. Some people never move beyond a 3-year-old’s understanding. Where are you on the continuum today? Are you still a child, thinking everything revolves around you? Do you habitually pass the buck and make excuses? Is it all about your own self-esteem?  Do you think you need to remove all the people from your life who don’t build you up or treat you as you deserve to be treated? Or do you understand that we are all interconnected as brothers and sisters, that we all need to forgive one another and show mercy to those who hurt us the most? Is your pride your biggest stumbling block or have you reached the heights of humility? Have you widened your perspective beyond your own little world to extend to the entire world, as Jesus did? Do you see everyone you meet as a brother or sister?

 

Jesus wasn’t disrespecting his family that day. He wasn’t ignoring or avoiding them. He was asking his disciples to expand their thinking. He wanted them to grow up! Being his disciple means you have to see everyone as your family. We don’t ignore our family, we expand it. Jesus was at the pinnacle of human moral and spiritual maturity, where he truly saw the big picture.

 

Just as there are stages to our moral maturity, there are stages to our spiritual maturity as well. And again, it has nothing to do with age. St. Dominic Savio died at 14. Maria Goretti was 12. Blessed Carlos Acutis was 15. We start off having no responsibility for our faith. It is given to us by our parents and family. When we begin to experience community, usually through the Church, we see that we share faith with other people. We begin to see our responsibility not just for our own salvation but for the salvation of others, in fact, the two are inseparable. We understand that we are not saved alone but with and through our relationships with others. We understand that to be spiritually mature we need to act on our faith. Our faith is both personal and public. We are our brother’s keeper.

 

Where are you on the spirituality continuum? It’s possible to stop your spiritual growth at any stage, or even go backwards. Many, many people who were raised in the faith stop believing for a time or even forever. Faith is a gift that needs to be nurtured to grow. Is your faith more cultural than committed? Are you motivated by fear or by love? Do you fear the repercussions of your actions, or do you truly make God the center of your life because you love Him with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul? Do you fully participate in the entire sacramental life of the Church because that is where you enter into the mystery? Do you attend Mass because of your obligation or because for you it is the source and summit of your faith? Or is it optional based upon the circumstances of the day? How big is your heart? Do you have your own personal Jesus, or do you strive to bring the joy of your faith to everyone you meet? Do you bring the grace of the Eucharist out into the world? As disciples of Christ, we are called to do more, to love more, to give more.

 

As children we are all about us. I’m hungry, feed me. I’m thirsty, give me something to drink. I’m cold, give me something to wear. I’m sick, take care of me. Jesus loves me. I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. A mature Christian life is  about serving others. We feed the hungry. We give drink to the thirsty. We clothe the naked. We visit the sick and those in prison. We love one another as He has loved us. We love our neighbor as ourselves. We love our enemies. We forgive seventy times seven. We go and make disciples of the whole world.

 

It is only when we can see ourselves as we truly are, brothers and sisters of the Lord, loved deeply by Him yet flawed and in need of forgiveness, can we move out into the world and bring God’s love to everyone. Who are my mother and my brothers and sisters? It could be everyone I meet. They are definitely those who do the will of the Father. I am one with them and they are one with me. And we are all one in the Lord. Jesus says he is my brother. God is my brother! How radical, and cool, is that?