Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
At the age of ten, while preparing to receive his first Holy Communion, St. Dominic Savio wrote down a series of resolutions.
“I will go to Confession and Communion as often as my confessor will allow. I will sanctify Sundays and holy days in a special way. Jesus and Mary will be my friends. Death, but not sin.” Dominic went on to study with St. John Bosco in Turin, before dying at the age of 14 in 1857. John Bosco and all who knew Dominic well testified that the young man had indeed remembered those promises he made before receiving Jesus, renewing them many times, and remaining faithful to them until his death.
While the first three promises might not surprise us, and seem like the obvious desires of a beautiful and innocent soul, the last promise is astonishingly stark. “Death, but not sin.” These are words of incredible seriousness, gravity, and decisiveness from a ten-year-old. How many of us can say that our resolve is or has ever been this strong, that we would rather die, giving up all our future plans, hopes, intentions in this life, rather than turn away from God’s commandments even once and risk losing eternal life? Can a 10 year old, who knows very little of the world’s temptations, possibly possess such a seriousness of purpose?
Yes, it is possible, and in fact, this is precisely the seriousness of purpose with which Jesus addresses his disciples in today’s Gospel. Christ is unsparing. A horrible death of drowning is better than helping someone sin. Losing a hand, a foot, or an eye is a happier thing than ever breaking friendship with God by giving in to temptation. While we might shorten the edges of this text by recognizing that Christ might be using some hyperbolic rhetoric to make his point, the point itself stands. Death is a better thing than sin. Where does this exacting calculus come from?
Christ says these things because of what sin really entails. Sin is a decision to disobey God’s commandments, which always means clinging to something in the world or in ourselves that is not God. Considering that God is the only true source of life, that he alone loves us perfectly, that he alone among all possible goods lasts and does not disappoint, and considering that everything in this life, whether pleasures, possessions, honors, or our own ideas and choices, all pass away and come to nothing, the conclusion is clear. Sin is madness. Sin is self-destruction.
Christ who loves us to the point of death and beyond is not harsh with us for no reason. He knows how difficult it is for us to face temptation, and so he is quick to help and forgive us, but he also knows that sin produces in us spiritual death, as well as deepening sorrow and pain. He knows that habits of choosing what is empty and pointless, the things that are not God and that turn us from God, make it more and more difficult to repent, turn back, and receive God’s friendship again. Christ is stark and exacting because he loves us, and would not have us lose everything through sin.
St. Dominic was able to make the promise he did because he understood this. He understood the greatness of God’s friendship, as well as the inestimable value of his soul and the souls of others in the eyes of Jesus. Even if we do not have the strength to say with Dominic Savio, “death, but not sin,” we can at least resolve to resist temptation anew, turn back to God and seek his mercy, knowing that above all, he desires our salvation and eternal happiness.
Fr. Rampino is studying at the Catholic University in Washington with residence at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria.
Death but not sin
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Hands folded in prayer on a Holy Bible in church concept for fai
Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
At the age of ten, while preparing to receive his first Holy Communion, St. Dominic Savio wrote down a series of resolutions.
“I will go to Confession and Communion as often as my confessor will allow. I will sanctify Sundays and holy days in a special way. Jesus and Mary will be my friends. Death, but not sin.” Dominic went on to study with St. John Bosco in Turin, before dying at the age of 14 in 1857. John Bosco and all who knew Dominic well testified that the young man had indeed remembered those promises he made before receiving Jesus, renewing them many times, and remaining faithful to them until his death.
While the first three promises might not surprise us, and seem like the obvious desires of a beautiful and innocent soul, the last promise is astonishingly stark. “Death, but not sin.” These are words of incredible seriousness, gravity, and decisiveness from a ten-year-old. How many of us can say that our resolve is or has ever been this strong, that we would rather die, giving up all our future plans, hopes, intentions in this life, rather than turn away from God’s commandments even once and risk losing eternal life? Can a 10 year old, who knows very little of the world’s temptations, possibly possess such a seriousness of purpose?
Yes, it is possible, and in fact, this is precisely the seriousness of purpose with which Jesus addresses his disciples in today’s Gospel. Christ is unsparing. A horrible death of drowning is better than helping someone sin. Losing a hand, a foot, or an eye is a happier thing than ever breaking friendship with God by giving in to temptation. While we might shorten the edges of this text by recognizing that Christ might be using some hyperbolic rhetoric to make his point, the point itself stands. Death is a better thing than sin. Where does this exacting calculus come from?
Christ says these things because of what sin really entails. Sin is a decision to disobey God’s commandments, which always means clinging to something in the world or in ourselves that is not God. Considering that God is the only true source of life, that he alone loves us perfectly, that he alone among all possible goods lasts and does not disappoint, and considering that everything in this life, whether pleasures, possessions, honors, or our own ideas and choices, all pass away and come to nothing, the conclusion is clear. Sin is madness. Sin is self-destruction.
Christ who loves us to the point of death and beyond is not harsh with us for no reason. He knows how difficult it is for us to face temptation, and so he is quick to help and forgive us, but he also knows that sin produces in us spiritual death, as well as deepening sorrow and pain. He knows that habits of choosing what is empty and pointless, the things that are not God and that turn us from God, make it more and more difficult to repent, turn back, and receive God’s friendship again. Christ is stark and exacting because he loves us, and would not have us lose everything through sin.
St. Dominic was able to make the promise he did because he understood this. He understood the greatness of God’s friendship, as well as the inestimable value of his soul and the souls of others in the eyes of Jesus. Even if we do not have the strength to say with Dominic Savio, “death, but not sin,” we can at least resolve to resist temptation anew, turn back to God and seek his mercy, knowing that above all, he desires our salvation and eternal happiness.
Fr. Rampino is studying at the Catholic University in Washington with residence at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria.
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