The Passions of the Body

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Wednesday of 29th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, October 20th, 2021
Texts: Romans 6:12-18; Ps.124:1-3.4-6.7-8; Luke 12:39-48
Our bodies burn with passions that contest to bend our wills. They are passions because they are strong feelings or desires; they are forceful and compelling in making us act and obey their dictates. If the passions succeed in breaking our wills, then sin will reign in our bodies. Hence, in today's first reading, St. Paul says, "let not sin reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions." The reigning of sin in our bodies makes us obey their passions.
One of the battles we fight in life is to surmount the passions of the body.  We become human and refined to the degree we are able to conquer the passions. If we do not control the passions, they will control us; if we do not destroy them, they will destroy us. Today's gospel reading gives us an example of a servant who gives in to the reign of his passions. "But if that servant says to himself, ‘my master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating. But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating." Whoever gives in to passions of the body could not be responsible or faithful in his duty. Such a person could only end up becoming an irresponsible and unfaithful child, worker, spouse, friend, parent etc.
One thing we have to know is that the desires of the body are not our true desires. Our true desire is happiness and eternal life, which we have lost as result of the sin of our first parents. The disobedience of our first parents came when they yielded to the passions of the body: they gave in to the attraction of the fruit and ate it. It is said, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate" (Gen. 3:6). Since we lost it through disobedience, we can only get it back through obedience, the obedience to the will of God. Obedience to the will of God is righteousness. Hence, St. Paul says, "Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness."
St. Paul encourages us not to use the members of our bodies for any sinful acts. We are not to use our mouths to speak evil, curse, slander, abuse, or criticise etc; our mouths should be used to bless, praise, commend, correct etc. We should ensure that our legs do not take us to where to sin; we should avoid occasion of sin by controlling where we go. Our leg should lead us to find good company, should lead us to the house of God, should lead us to where people mourn to gain wisdom, should lead us to where people rejoice, etc. We should also keep our hands off evil: we should not take what does not belong to us, we should not fight or kill with our hands. We are to use our hands to do good, to help others, to embrace etc. Our eyes should not be set on evil things. We are to set our eyes on the Lord and our vision. Our eyes should be used to behold good things: The wonder of creation, beautiful works of art and colours, etc. Our ears should not be inclined to hear evil: gossip, lies, foul language, blasphemies etc. Our ears should be inclined to hear the truth, wonderful deeds of God, etc. Our minds should entertain good thoughts, not evil ones. We should think about the wonder of creation, the mysteries of salvation, the passions of Christ, the joy of heaven, the peace of Christ, the glory of man in God, etc. If the members of our bodies are not subject to the passions of the body, righteousness would reign in us.
Once the members of the body are subject to God and no longer subject to the passions of the body, we are free from the law; we are then under the grace of God. St. Paul reminds us that being covered by grace is not a licence to sin but making us slaves to righteousness. Being slaves to righteousness means we are bound to live righteously. He puts it thus: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
Jesus Christ, in today's gospel reading, asks us to be slaves to righteousness. His parable, today, is a call to be slave to righteousness. We should always be found keeping to righteousness.

God our Father, thank You for showing us the path of righteousness, grant us the grace to walk the path. Amen.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke