Homily—24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Who do you say that I am? A very compelling question asked by Jesus in today’s gospel of his first disciples and a question by extension asked of each of us today. Our answer of course determines the whole rest of our lives! But let that sit for now.
Each one of us probably has acquired an image of Jesus over our years of faith—an image that fits our notion of who God might be like—or what a messiah might be like. Those people who lived before Jesus’ coming had an idea too. They lived in the time of kings—perhaps the messiah would be an anointed king—a political leader. The Jewish people had a priestly class to reference, so maybe the messiah would be an anointed priest.
We know that Jesus came neither as anointed king nor anointed priest, but given the types of leaders that people had in 1st Century
As I said above, Jesus came as one “anointed” and this happened more symbolically than actually, through Jesus’ words and actions—geared toward service. Scripture does record him being anointed at
Matthew 25 is Jesus’ testament and practice of living an anointed life. “Whatever you do for the least among us, you do for me and likewise, whatever you refuse to do for these least, you refuse to do for me.”
Jesus tells the apostles in today’s gospel that if they want to follow him, it’s not just about the preaching and the healing, but that they will have to pick up their cross and carry it too, just as he will eventually have to do. There will be death, but resurrection too! All hard sayings. These first followers couldn’t understand why after they had waited so long for the Messiah to come, that he would have to die and be taken from them. And more than likely, they didn’t understand what resurrection was. And that is understandable—who of us understands it?—it is one of those things we have to experience to really grasp I’m thinking.
These first followers clearly had different expectations, and so no doubt were disappointed and disillusioned. The answer to the earlier question of why the messiah, Jesus, the Christ was crucified is simple—he didn’t meet the expectations of those who awaited him and for some probably was more than they bargained for. The punishment for being counter-culture in Jesus’ time was to silence them—or try, so he suffered crucifixion. Today the Church tries to silence too—they aren’t quite as gruesome—excommunication and banishment, refusal to offer the sacraments, they feel will do.
So, my friends, back to our original question—Jesus’ question to each of us: “Who do you say that I am?”
If we answer, “You are the Christ, the First Born of the Living God,” the One that I believe shows us the way, the truth and the life—then does that not pave the way that our life must take? Does it not suggest that if we call ourselves “Christians,” we must walk in Jesus’ footsteps of justice, mercy, acceptance and love for all, no matter who they are? Does it not also mean that we will have to carry our own personal crosses of misunderstanding, pain and abandonment?
I believe the answer is “yes” to all of the above. James tells us today in simple terms—“faith without good works is dead.” Quite clear it seems. We can’t say we are followers of Jesus—profess belief in him and stop there—no one will believe us if we merely talk—we must, as they say, “walk the walk.”
Sometimes this all might feel very daunting and we wonder where we will find the strength, the words, the deeds, to walk this walk. We receive much encouragement in our first reading today from Isaiah. We do not walk alone—our God walks with us and that gives us a strength that we wouldn’t have on our own. We have each other and we must be the strength that each other needs. Isaiah says, we must confront each other—help each other to be the best we can be. And with the knowledge that Jesus our brother has first walked this walk and with his promise that the Spirit will always be with us—we have nothing to fear.
Kathy Redig, M.A. in Pastoral Ministries is a certified chaplain. She has served in Winona, MN in this capacity since 1995. Through this ministry she became aware that many people feel disenfranchised from the Catholic church and other churches. She was called to ministry at a young age, entering the convent after high school. Eventually realizing that she needed a partner in life, she left, married, and with her husband, raised two children. She suddenly became aware that God was calling her to ordination to become part of the change that she hoped to see within the Catholic church. Kathy is working along with her husband, Robert to establish a parish where all will be welcome at the table. krredig@hbci.com
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