Memorial of Saint John de Brébeuf and Saint Isaac Jogues, priests and martyrs, and their companions, martyrs
Have you ever watched a poker game unfold? There can be lots of deception and drama. People can bluff their way through their hand and convince the other players that they are holding great cards. One of the best ways to show the rest of the players you have the winning cards is to put all of your money on the table. This is often done by someone pushing all of their chips to the center and declaring, “All in!”
These images around the game of poker also work well as metaphors to help us understand life, especially as we decide whether we are “all in” for our faith. Consider for a moment St. Paul’s question: Who or what do we give our obedience? Take a moment now to come up with a list, perhaps even listing those items in priority order.
Probably most of us could come up with a list: Traffic laws, our spouses, our parents, our bosses, our children, the television schedule, our hunger pains, our thirst, or even our passions. This list might grow quite lengthy. As part of the exercise, notice where God ended up amongst the competing obligations. Did God even make the list? Was a sin or a vice that helps you cope included on the list? In your heart of hearts examine whether sin or God is more central to your life.
In the gospel, Jesus challenges the disciples to be faithful servants for whom doing the Lord’s will is central. Jesus makes clear that following the Lord’s will is a constant endeavor. We cannot simply wait until the master is out of site before we sin. We need to remember that the Master is always with us.
From St. Paul’s point of view, we must give up all that is sinful in order to be grace-filled disciples. For Paul, only a complete death to sin would allow someone to freely place our hearts on the path that leads to righteousness. Yet, it is even more radical than this. For Paul, we must choose to whom we will be obedient. We must choose either sin or God as our master.
For each of us, the choice becomes one between simply being like Christ or being one with Christ. If we choose to be like Christ, then our sin becomes mainly an offense to our discipleship. Where as if we choose to completely place ourselves in Christ and allow Christ to reside fully in us then our sin is an offense both to us and to Christ.
The cards have been dealt to us generously. We each hold a great hand. Now it is up to us. Do we want to continue bluffing? Surely, we must realize that the dealer knows our cards. Or do we desire to be grace-filled disciples like Isaac Jogues, who in the midst great suffering, choose to stay “all in!”
-Michael Montgomery