SELF-LOVE AND THE VIRTUE OF SELFLESSNESS


SAINTS CYRIL, MONK, AND METHODIUS, BISHOP   

1 Kings 12:26-32,13:33-34; Ps 106:6-7,19-22; Mk 8:31-10

Self Interest and Propagation of Division

Our reflections through the week have focused on Solomon and how he prefigured the Son of Man and the Messiah of God’s people. His life confirms for us the fact that each of us stands only as long as we fix our gaze on the word of God in order to accomplish the good purposes of God in our lives and in the lives of his people. Before the Eternal Word manifested himself in our human nature, he remained with us as the word of God spoken through various means to us. The most basic of these speeches of God is the creation that came into existence through His spoken word. Anyone who pays close attention to God’s creation discovers the path of wisdom within creation. The wisdom of God in creation beckons us to pay attention to the divine works and learn the divine truth contained in creation. A basic lesson creation teaches us is the selfless activities of creatures in praise of God. Man, who is fed and nourished by nature, fails to learn this sacred lesson from creation because of the blindness or darkness introduced in him by sin. Sin, which is a turning away from the word of God, blinds us to the presence and working of wisdom within creation. From the original fall, self-interest has characterised our sinful condition on earth, propagating division, darkness, evil, and death.

The little self-indulgence we witnessed in David blossomed in his progenies. At an advanced age, Solomon lost control of himself and was driven solely by self-interest, abandoning his initial love for God. If those raised from a supposedly holy stock of David were powerless before the evil of self-love, more so was Jeroboam, who had no such background in the word of God. Hence, he was swept away by the surge of self-interest and desire for power. “Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘As things are, the kingdom will revert to the House of David. If these people continue to go up to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, the people’s heart will turn back again to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will put me to death.’ So, the king thought this over and then made two golden calves; he said to the people, ‘You have been going to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, Israel; these brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” We are left to wonder how Jeroboam came to be the king of Israel, with such a selfish and darkened heart. The fact that a prophet appointed him validates the belief that God gives the people a ruler who suits their lives. He led the people away from God by stopping them from going to Jerusalem to worship and erected two idols for them. His action was furtherance of those of wise Solomon, who erected different idols, though not for his people, but for his foreign wives. He was the initiator of idol worship in Israel.

This consideration helps us to understand that none of us is truly free from blame for the existence of evil in our society. Our inadvertence to the word of God and preoccupation with self-help to propagate darkness and sin in the community and society we live in. With the psalmist, we make a public confession of our common sins. “Our sin is the sin of our fathers; we have done wrong; our deeds have been evil.” We must turn back as a people to the Word of God and seek His presence and mercy. We must gather around the Son of Man, our Messiah, and seek his grace of salvation and redemption. He is our priest and king; he shows us mercy and heals us. “A great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat. So, Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them off home hungry. they will collapse on the way; some have come a great distance.’” He blessed seven loaves and a few fish and fed the crowd of people. A people-centred mindset flows from the God-centred mindset. We are able to love our neighbours as ourselves when we love God with all our mind, heart, will, and strength. Saints Cyril and Methodius loved and cared for the people because of their love of God. They were brothers, born in Thessalonica. Together they moved to Moravia for the work of evangelisation. They translated liturgical texts into the Slavonic language and worked assiduously to evangelise the people. May their prayers help us to worship God selflessly.

Let us pray: O God, who enlightened the Slavic people through the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, grant that our hearts may grasp the words of your teaching, and perfect us as a people of one accord in true faith and right confession. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.     

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