Today’s readings: Wisdom 2, 12.17-20; James 3, 16-4, 3; Mark 9, 30-37.

Humanity is going through a very delicate point in time where our true self is concerned. Religion and morality were a most important, if not unique, source of the self in the past. Our understanding of right and wrong, our way of choosing what makes us more humane from what shatters our humanity, even our sense of guilt, were shaped almost exclusively by religion.

This is no longer the case. The modern sources of the true self may vary. Man is come of age and we all acknowledge the great achieve­ments of modern psychology in deciphering the depth and dy­namics of the self. Yet we have to admit also that whereas psychology can explain much and in depth, healing comes from elsewhere.

Disharmony between people, in social and family life alike, needs to be healed. James in the second reading sees the origin of dis­harmony “in the desires fighting inside your own selves”.

“You want something,” he writes, “and you haven’t got it; so you are prepared to kill.” ‘Prepared to kill’ means determined to get what one wants at all cost, even if the cost is friendship, loyalty, harmony, gentle­ness, and compassion.

In the gospel, Jesus instead speaks of being prepared to die in order to achieve in life. Today’s readings enlighten us precisely on the difference between being prepared to kill or to die in what we are struggling to achieve. The wisdom that Scripture speaks about today is not a wisdom that explains but one that heals. But that wisdom, as James writes, comes from above.

The drama we are living today is that the same religion which so often presented itself as being able to answer all human questions is now being excluded from the lives of many people because it is con­sidered stagnant and as blocking authentic growth and maturity.

In his book The Great Partnership, Jonathan Sacks wisely writes: “When we come to a major crossroads in history it is only natural to ask who shall guide us as to which path to choose. Science speaks with ex­pertise about the future, religion with the authority of the past.”

The wisdom of old is the safest way to take. As believers we cannot afford to rest our judgments simply on the analysis provided by the prevailing culture, for all its worth.

True religion gives us dis­cernment and provides us with what we need to be true to ourselves and our nature. That may also make us vulnerable.

That is why the call to serve in the gospel of Jesus forms part of the core instructions Jesus gave only to his disciples and privately. What makes talk about serving more burden­some is that it comes with Jesus’ prediction of his suffering and death.

His suffering and death are incomprehensible. In like manner is the call to serve in a culture built on competitiveness that generates ambition and jealousy.

But as James writes, jealousy and ambition bring only disharmony, and the antidote suggested is the wisdom that comes from above.

The gospel of Jesus and his instructions are still perceived by many as not at all down to earth, as unrealistic in a world where struggling to survive is the rule.

But at the end of the day it is a message of deep humanity and realism. Jesus in the gospel not only heals infirmities but also divisions, whatever shatters our true relationships and makes of us people divided within ourselves.

As the Book of Wisdom suggests, our endurance is put to the test. But there are virtuous people to look up to who can still shine out in the darkness of the world, proving that Jesus’ promises are unfailing.

We still boast of having crucifixes hung on walls in schools and public places because many still hold the crucifix to be an integral part of our Western culture. Yet we still find the philosophy behind the cross difficult to digest. Discipleship is never reconcilable with ego trips of any sort, let alone in the Church.