Homily—12 Weekend in Ordinary Time June 23, 2013 “Who do the crowds say that I am?”—a question posed to the apostles by Jesus in today’s gospel. More specifically, and presently, we might ask, “Who do we say that Jesus is?” And zeroing in on the question behind the question, “What difference does Jesus make in our lives?” Jesus, like most human beings, near the end of their lives, wants to know if his time on earth has mattered. Has anything that he has said or done really got to people? Now, if we were ever looking for proof of Jesus’ humanity—here it is! Jesus is asking those closest to him in ministry and probably, in his life too, what effect he has had on the crowds, on them, in regard to his mission in the world. I think we can understand his question to his beloved friends—his apostles, when we look into our own lives and our journeys, to discover who each of us is. We are given life, but we need to discover how to live it—what to do with the gift. It often takes many years—for some, most of their lives to discover and come to terms with their place in this world. Joan Chittister shares this comment from their groundskeeper. “I looked out the window one day, and I said to myself, ‘What am I doing in here at an architect’s drawing board?’ I left that place and I’ve been happy ever since.” We are each someone’s daughter or son and that may be a good, or not so good reality—yet that is our source, our starting point. We are not our parents, but they were our beginning, and our task in life is to differentiate ourselves—choosing to be like them, or not, depending on what that experience has been for us. When Jesus asks, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”—he is asking THE BIG question that isn’t about who his parents were or what town he came from—he is asking the question that defines each of our existences—“what difference have I made in my world?” Life events allow us moments of knowing that we have made a difference and it is good when that happens. One of the frustrating things for Jesus must have been the inability of many to get beyond the signs and wonders that he showed—his eloquent and challenging words of love, justice, peace, mercy—the miracles of care for the downtrodden, the sick, the fallen, and move to the realization that these words and actions had to be from God. As Nicodemus would proclaim later, a mere human couldn’t speak so, couldn’t act so, unless God were truly with him, and in him, and as a result, with us. Jesus wanted his followers to see beyond the miracles and accept his actions as a model for what they too must say and do—what we must say and do. The people of Jesus’ time apparently wanted another John the Baptist, another Elijah, even though Jesus wasn’t really like either of these forerunners in temperament or life style. Elijah was a fiery prophet and John the Baptist, a prophet in his own right, was a hermit who chose to live separate from people and exist on a Spartan diet. Jesus came into the center of people and he and his apostles were often guests at banquets. These people; Jesus’ neighbors, friends and acquaintances were always looking for the “messiah” who would do battle for them against their enemies, the Romans and others. Little did they know that Jesus would be a messiah who would wage a different, greater battle—that of modeling life that was about justice, love, mercy, goodness—challenging the powers-that-be to be people of integrity allowing those most down-trodden and afflicted in their midst, “a place at the table”–a share of the goodness of life given to each of us at birth—our true identity and heritage as children of his Abba God. We should never doubt, any of us, that Jesus, our brother, came for all of us, into a culture that didn’t welcome all to the table and he came into the midst of that injustice and said that God’s house is for all of us and that everyone is welcome. Jesus’ heart and mind was big enough to see that if the synagogue wouldn’t give everyone a place, he would take the meal out to the hillside, where all were welcome. I had an encounter this past week while doing some hospital visitation that let me know that Jesus’ message hasn’t yet totally sunk in. A woman that I was visiting wanted her doctor to know about me and that I pastor this parish. In describing to him what our parish stands for, I basically said, “We try to be a parish that is inclusive of all, welcoming everyone to the table; and I delineated, “women and men, gays and lesbians, everyone. The woman I was visiting said in response and rather matter-a-factly, “I think that is what Jesus intended.” To this the doctor responded, “Well, maybe.” So, our work, which is Jesus’ work, is not yet done. Through our readings today, we come to see not only who Jesus is, but who, ultimately, we are—maybe better said—willing to become. We see in the reading from Zechariah and in the gospel from Luke the foreshadowing of the cross. Both readings point to Jesus’ ultimate crucifixion—“they will look on the one whom they have pierced.” These readings have to be faced by each of us—if we will truly follow Jesus. We must be open to the cross in our lives as well. Women across this country, some 75 strong here, with additional women internationally have defied the powers-that-be within the Catholic church to listen to a higher authority—that of the call of God in their lives to be ordained as priests, putting their names, reputations and livelihoods on the line so that they might be better able to serve the people whose “souls are thirsting for God,” as the psalmist says so beautifully today. Sometimes their families haven’t understood and have shunned them, but every one of these women would tell you that she had no choice but to respond to God’s call, even if it means this cross for her to carry. Today, in St. Cloud, three more women from the Midwest Region will be ordained as priests—please keep them in your prayers. As the years go on and more women continue to be ordained, our brother priests are finding the strength within to little by little stand by their sister priests—noteworthy among them is Father Bill Brennan, a 95 year-old Jesuit, and of course, Father Roy Bourgeois, Maryknoll priest of over 40 years. These men and others have supported the women because they have truly taken Paul’s words to the Galatians to heart—because we have been baptized into Christ—there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. All are one in our brother, Jesus, the Christ. So, my friends, there’s no getting around it—we are one—with no differences that matter, called by our loving God to make a difference in our world—to live as Jesus did. We have a decision to make though—a question to answer. If we say that Jesus is the Christ, then our path is clear—we must, if we say we want to follow him, walk in his footsteps, living fearlessly, doing the right for ourselves and others, even if we must face the cross. We must keep our sights on Jesus, our brother, who is our hope and who has told us, “I won’t leave you, but will be with you until the end of time. Sometimes when we experience hard things in life that we don’t really understand, we may find ourselves wondering why this sickness, this sadness has come to us. The prospect of losing a spouse, a child, living within a Church that appears at times to be unjust and far from the message of Jesus, we wonder if that promise that Jesus would be with us always is really something we can put our faith in. And then we witness the love and care of people all around us—how they go out of their way to see that we are OK, how they bring food by, how they do errands for us because we are too tired or ill or frazzled to do them ourselves. It is at such times that we should clearly see and have no doubt about it—our God is present, loving us into wholeness. Remember—our God is present in the goodness of each one of us. We began today pondering Jesus’ question, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Peter answered correctly, “You are the Messiah”—one who came to show us the way to live, to love, to die and to rise. We, as Jesus, will have made a difference if we live and enjoy the life given by our Loving God, but also remember to share it with others— to be grateful for all that is given and to do our part to see that the least among us receive justice, mercy and love. Amen? Amen!
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 19:58:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015