+ J. M. J. +
Homily Outline for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Jesus places a significant question before us: “Who do people say that I am?” Notice the focus on Jesus’ identity: He doesn’t ask, “What do I do?” or “What do I teach?” but rather “Who am I?” The other questions are significant, but actions and words flow out of our existence and being. We are before we do or act or speak. Any number of theories are floating around about Jesus: Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets. In our own time, this is also true: many theories float around about who Jesus is: a good teacher, a philosopher, a misguided peasant, a revolutionary, a peacenik, or one among a whole clan of religious figures like Mohammed or Buddha. Many people who pay lip service to Christ and think of Him fondly embrace one of these ideas: Jesus, one religious leader or founder among others, even if He is the leader I choose to follow.
This is not enough, and it wasn’t enough for Jesus, and He pressed His followers to go further: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, impetuous faithful faltering Peter said “You are the Christ.” Christ is Greek for Messiah, which is Hebrew for the Anointed One: the one we have been waiting for, the new David, the new King, the Savior. All this is caught up in that little word, Christ.
Notice carefully what happens next: Jesus goes on to teach that the Son of Man will suffer, die, and rise again. Peter rebukes Him! Imagine this, the student rebuking the teacher! The Jews did not expect a suffering Messiah, nor is it what they wanted. They wanted victory, power, honor, wealth, comfort, all of this coming with the Romans kicked out and their kingdom not only reestablished, but preferably bigger than ever before!
Jesus uses the STRONGEST possible words in rejecting this, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” We readily choose to avoid pain and suffering and adversity, but God goes deeper, and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, not to avoid suffering, but to walk right into the midst of it, thus conquering it from within and forever.
Jesus goes on to make it VERY clear that if we are to follow Him, this too will be our path, into the midst of suffering, taking up our cross, whatever it may be, giving up our lives into the Father’s hands, and in losing our lives with Christ, in dying with Him, rising to new life. Each of us faces suffering right now: physical sickness or pain, fear or anxiety, a crisis of faith, a broken relationship, trouble at work, or the sufferings of a spouse or a parent or a child. This is precisely what Jesus is talking about: will we take up these crosses in all their bitterness, and follow Him to Calvary? Quite against all our expectations and our longing for comfort and ease, this is the path that leads to joy and peace and eternal life. Our faith must express itself in concrete actions, in concrete everyday decisions, or it is merely lip service. To use James’ very pithy expression, “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Today is Catechetical Sunday, and after communion we will bless our catechists, our parents who are the first and most important catechists, and godparents who promised at the baptism of their godchildren to be witnesses and teachers of the faith. Catechesis is a countercultural act, and a path likely to lead to disdain and rejection. To catechize is to teach and live the Gospel in all its truth. In our contemporary situation, to publicly claim that something is true is very likely to lead to accusations of hatred, bigotry, and intolerance. Even more, to claim that Jesus is Lord and Christ, the most basic expression of our faith, may very quickly lead us into difficulty, especially if we seek to firmly follow Jesus’ moral teachings. Isaiah describes the consequences of speaking the truth with our lives, “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” We should not imagine that our own following of the Lord will necessarily lead to honor and respect and kindness from a world that is increasingly and aggressively hostile and intolerant towards people of faith , especially if they have the temerity to claim that what they believe is true!
Our catechists, parents, and godparents have a special joy, a special privilege, of handing on the truth of the Gospel, but also a special burden and challenge. I am filled with confidence that if we will follow the Lord with zeal and humility and faithfulness, this will lead us to eternal life and joy. I am similarly confident that it will involve us in every sort of difficulty and struggle! Jesus was frank and clear about this, we see that difficulty and struggle co-existing with peace and joy in His life and the lives of all the saints. Very likely we have observed it in the lives of family members and friends who have been witnesses of faith to us. Each day I encounter men, women, and children facing every sort of difficulty, and I am often humbled by their faith and perseverance in the midst of it.
I would like to conclude with a story of hope, a story of catechesis apparently failed and the Lord’s patient mercy. It is, briefly, the story of one of our current seminarians, Brandon Oman, a witness I have heard him share publicly a number of times.
Brandon readily relates that he had no love for CCD or confirmation classes, and went to great lengths to be disruptive. Once he was confirmed, he pretty much stopped going to church despite his parent’s entreaties. After high school he worked as a logger in the woods, and eventually was driving log trucks most of the time and making decent money. He was also playing in a band and living the party life. For several years, this was his life, but it left him emptier and emptier. One day, as he was driving a loaded log truck, he was feeling empty and hopeless. He knew he believed that God existed, and he believed that Hell existed, because he was in the midst of it. He remembered his confirmation teacher telling him, “If you ever call upon the name of Jesus, He will always come to your aid.” So, right there, as he was driving along, he called upon the Lord. In the months and years ahead, he started going back to church, to everyone’s surprise, and he began to pray the rosary. A few years later, Bishop Sample was ordained a bishop, and although Brandon had to work, he had his mom tape the live broadcast of the ordination Mass. As he watched it later that evening, he was struck to the heart by our bishop’s words. Bishop Sample, partway through his homily, went off his prepared text, moved by the Spirit, and looked out into the congregation. I was there myself and I remember it. He said, “If there are any young men listening to me today, and if the Lord has placed it on your heart to become a priest, take courage!” As Brandon heard those words hours later, he was pierced to the heart, and shortly after that began the journey to the priesthood. He is now in 2nd Theology and, God-willing, will be ordained a priest in about two and a half years!
I was relating this to a friend from the same area some years ago, and it turns out he was the confirmation teacher, and he shared with me his own joy at seeing the Lord at work in Brandon’s life, even though it had not seemed at all promising during those confirmation classes!
The Lord is at work in our midst, at every day, and at every moment, not least through our catechists and parents and godparents! As we come to this altar now to receive the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, our Lord and King, we ask the Lord to sustain us and empower us to live our faith each day, that our faith may pass beyond lip service and vague affiliation into concrete belief and action.
+ A. M. D. G. +
No comments:
Post a Comment