Num 11:25-29
Ps 19 R/. The precepts of the Lord are right, and give joy to the heart.
Jam 5:1-6
Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
In our Gospel reading for today the Lord Jesus uses very strong imagery: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off … if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off … if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out (Mk 9:43, 45, 47).
Obviously, He isn’t calling us to mutilate ourselves — I think we’d look like a sorry bunch if He were… But rather, Jesus is using this vivid imagery to help us understand His point: we need to do whatever it takes to avoid sin and reduce temptation. This is at the very heart of the life of virtue to which we’re called as Christians: to reject evil and choose the good (cf. Is 7:15).
The Lord is telling us that, in our struggle against sin and temptation, we need to eliminate from our lives everything that leads us into sin. If the Internet is leading us into sin, then we need to cancel it; if television is leading us into sin, then we need to get rid of it; if a particular friend or group of friends is leading us into sin, then we need to let them go and find new friends…
Jesus uses this strong language to help us understand how serious and committed we need to be in our battle against sin. This is rooted in the reality of how serious and deadly sin is for us. Sin is the road to Hell, and if we allow sin to take hold of us, that’s where it’ll lead us!
That’s why Jesus says, it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell (Mk 9:43). It’s better for us to live without friends, the Internet, or whatever… than to go to Hell. Now those are just random examples; each one of us needs to ask ourselves, what are the things I have, the actions I do, the people I know, and so on… that lead me into sin? What in my life makes it harder for me to refuse temptation? These are the hands, feet, and eyes Jesus is calling us to amputate; these are the things we need to shed in order to grow in virtue and enter into Heaven!
But in order for us to successfully avoid sin and refute temptation, we also need the desire not to sin and the desire to change our lives. That’s because the true causes of sin lie not outside of us, but within our own hearts. As Jesus told us a few weeks ago, [it’s] from the human heart that evil intentions come (Mk. 7:21). The external things we’re called to shed lead us into sin because we’re weak; they awaken in our hearts the desire for sin and weaken our desire to avoid sin. Getting rid of them, then, isn’t a guarantee of not sinning, but is intended to help us grow in our desire to avoid sin and to fight temptation; it strengthens us for the good fight.
That’s why most acts of contrition include a line like, I firmly intend, with the help of your grace, to amend my life and to avoid what ever leads me to sin. Confession isn’t about allowing us to continue sinning and get away with it; Confession is the failsafe, it’s the safety net Jesus has given us in case we fall! As St. John tells us, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn 2:1). Confession is the gift of God’s mercy because He wants us to be saved. He doesn’t want us to continue sinning, but rather, with His grace, He wants us to grow in virtue and holiness.
That’s why He’s also given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help our conscience discern what is good from what is evil, and to give us the grace, courage, and fortitude to refuse evil and choose the good.
May we, then, who profess the name of Jesus and hope in His mercy, be strengthened by His grace to remove from our lives whatever leads us into sin, so as to cling to what helps us grow in virtue and holiness. Amen.
In Domino Spera! 
I love your homilys Father. This one was well timed for me and I am grateful that even though I was not able to hear it in person I still was able to experience it through your blog. God bless.
Thanks, Kyle. God bless you, and pray for me!