2026/08/30 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
- Margaret Gilman, Interim Director of Religious Education
Today’s Gospel from Matthew poses a challenge from Jesus to all of us. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The first challenge is just trying to understand the context and language of the Gospel. The second challenge is applying that understanding to our lived experience.
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it” refers to a person’s desire to save their earthly life and all the comforts associated with that life. Contrasting that, “but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” refers to the certainty Jesus promises us that if we trust in him and live the life he is asking, we will be provided with eternal life. Matthew’s Gospel may be a language challenge to understand, but even larger it provides a much more difficult challenge for Christians to answer. Jesus is asking us to deny our self and accept that there will be suffering. How do we as Christians respond to that in our actual lives?
We are called as Christians to put other’s needs before our own. It doesn’t mean that we must be martyrs in all that we do, but it does mean that we are called to sacrifice for others in our thoughts and actions. Parents do this every day when they prioritize their children’s needs above their own. Teachers, catechists, and all who work with children live this out as they sacrifice their own comforts to enrich the lives of children in their care. When we share the love of Christ with others, we are actively living our lives in the call of Jesus. At Saint Clement we see this through our Clement Commits, Friday Hospitality, OCIA, and the many ministries we offer to provide community and grow the Kingdom of God. All these opportunities are made possible because individuals sacrifice their time and own comforts to make them happen.
We are required to serve others, but we are also required to TRUST in God’s plan. I think in today’s world that may in fact be the most difficult. We are so conditioned to try to protect the lives we have built for ourselves. As such we need to remind ourselves and share with others that God’s plan for us is bigger than anything we could imagine for ourselves and we need to trust in His goodness to make that happen. All of this is easy to say and easy to write; the challenge is in the actual living of it. Do we have trust in God when we are struggling with life transitions? Do we have trust in God when our children are hurting? Do we have trust in God when we have been wronged by another? All these times and many more are when we need to continue to remember that experiencing hardship, challenge, and loss in this life as we are following God is how we are led to eternal life.