Today's liturgy sets up a dichotomy between this world and the next, between earthly folly and heavenly wisdom. The first reading is negative even about our earthly bodies: "The corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind." Jesus goes a step further and warns that even those closest to us--"father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters" (Gospel)--may get in the way of entering God's kingdom. At the same time, the alternative opening prayer offers a counterpoint to the readings' seeming negativity, asking that God "open our eyes to the wonders this life sets before us." And, as we celebrate Labor Day tomorrow, we may protest that there is value to the work of our hands, earthly though it may be.

Perhaps the theme of wisdom can help us through our conundrum. Wisdom is not something we're born with but something we grow into, inspired by God's "holy spirit from on high" (first reading). It is God's wisdom that helped Paul plead for the slave Onesimus in the second reading, calling into question his own culture's acceptance of human slavery. Though Jesus is for us "the light of the world" (Communion antiphon), his words require time and reflection to grasp. We cannot simply dismiss today's gospel as hyperbole anymore than we can start "hating" those we love. The way is not always clear, but we trust God will lead us to the "true freedom" the opening prayer asks for. Perhaps today's liturgy is, then, a call to reflect, to allow Jesus' wisdom to make us a bit uncomfortable, that our earthly path may be made a little straighter (first reading).

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