“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9: 43-48)
All of these very vivid and interesting descriptions that we hear and read in the Gospel this weekend, like “cutting of hands and feet” and “plucking the eyes”, are of course metaphors to spiritual life and are never meant to be taken literally. In physical matters, it may be that someone may have to part with a limb or with some part of the body to preserve the life of the whole body. The amputation of the limb or the excision of a part of the body by surgical means is sometimes the only way to preserve the life of the whole body. Same thing with our spiritual life. If there’s anything that impedes our growth in our love for God, then get rid of that impediment. If excessive watching of TV hinders us to grow in our prayer life, then get rid of that
excessiveness by striking a balance; if alcohol is the primary reason for the deterioration of marriage or of my priesthood, then get rid of it by asking for help if we can’t deal with it on our own. We can have countless more examples. The point is getting rid of anything that hinders us to deepen our relationship with God is not a matter which another person can do for us. It is largely a matter of one person’s individual conscience. That is why the right formation of conscience is crucial for one to have an ordered and healthy spiritual life. If there’s anything in our lives which is coming between us and an obedience to the will of God, however much habit and custom may have made it part of our lives, it must be rooted out. The rooting out may be as painful as a surgical operation—it may seem like cutting out part of our own body; but, if we are to know real life, real happiness and real peace, it must go. Are there “hands” or “feet” that we need to cut out in order to for us to experience real life, happiness and peace? - Fr. Cary