August 24, 2014

21^st Sunday Ordinary A

Isaiah 22:10-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16: 13-20
The core of the reflection today surrounds itself around Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” This is addressed to Peter and I believe to each person who calls himself/herself a follower of Jesus; to each person who calls himself/herself a believer, to each person who calls himself/herself a Christian and to each person who calls himself/herself a Catholic. Now if this question is addressed to me individually then how I respond is very important, and the response is more than a right and wrong answer…the response necessitates a definitive statement about what I am going to do about it.
Let’s look at the Scripture passage for clarification and help. The response of Peter, his profession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God plays a very important role in Matthew’s gospel. As a result of this, Jesus refers to Peter as a “Rock.” This word does not appear in any of the other gospels. Scholars say that it is a ‘play on words’ since the Aramaic word for Peter is ‘rock’. Jesus says that Peter is the person that He will build His Church. The Greek words of church is ‘ekklesia’ which means an assembly and is a synonym for synagogue. Now Church appears two times in Matthew and that’s the only place it appears. Now an important part of history is that there is strong evidence that Matthew’s community may have been excluded from worshiping in the synagogue because of their confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Peter is recognized as the ‘leader’ and the “gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” So what does all this mean? All the mainline Scripture scholars say that Jesus appointed Peter to a special position. The debate among Catholics and Protestants is whether Jesus intended this special position of authority to be passed on to Peter’s successors. Catholics say of course, in the figure and office of the Pope; Protestants say no.
I feel that exploring this passage in this way brings each of us away from the direct question Jesus is asking me and each person: NOT “Who do people say that the Son of Man is “BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” Jesus is definitely not interested in hearsay or gossip or scuttlebutt or ‘sharing of ignorance’. Jesus wants to know what His apostles NOW THINK. Jesus wants to know ‘what I think now!’ Jesus is not interested in the opinions of the people I associate with or respect, He wants to know NOW what I have to say about Jesus…who He is. Peter gives the ‘right’ answer. Peter is speaking, certainly with the deep help of the Spirit. Matthew could have made Peter into a strong hero with His response. Matthew didn’t…why? Because leadership is not about power, splendor and glory, it is about faith and trust and service. Peter had a long way still to go. He still had Jesus’ betrayal, death and resurrection to deal with…and he was certainly not a ‘knight in shining armor’ in these events. The bottom line is that Peter’s human weakness overcame his little faith, and he will fail. But his story is a faith story of allowing the Spirit to pick him up and continue to regroup, reassert his faith and continue on.’

Give Us This Day shares a reflection by Sr. Katherine Howard, in Not by Bread Alone that is beautiful for me. “Jesus identifies Simon as ‘Peter,’ that is, ‘Rock.’ Left to his own false bravado and fears, however, Peter was more like a shifting heap of sand. During Jesus’ agony, Peter is one of the three favored apostles who are unable to stay awake with Him in His suffering. Peter denies Jesus three times. Peter is not present at the foot of the cross. It is not Peter’s character or virtuous achievements that make him a rock. It is his faith in Jesus that makes him stable and strong enough to be a foundation stone for the church.

Peter’s faith is more than intellectual knowledge; it is a trusting relationship with Jesus. When he confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Peter is speaking out of deep loving communion with Him. He knows Christ as a friend knows friend, as a husband or wife knows a spouse. Knowing in this deep, loving way with heart as well as head makes Peter willing to place all his trust in Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son.

No matter what our personality type, weaknesses of character, or previous failings, Jesus welcomes us all into the same kind of deep, loving relationship. We are invited to come to Christ, a living stone and, like living stones, to let ourselves be built into a spiritual house (1Peter 2: 4-5). Believing and being baptized in Jesus, the Son of the living God, unites us with Peter as rocks, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the capstone” (Ephesians 2:20)
Is Jesus my God? Do I allow God to love me? Do I pay attention to God leading me closer to Himself? Am I willing to give up ‘my way’ and let my life be about God’s way? Do I make Scripture a big part of my learning about Jesus? Do I feel I know all I need to know? Do I allow myself to sit at the feet of the Master and let Him lead me because He knows the way to heaven…better still…He is the only way to heaven. AND He wants me and each person to be in heaven with Him.
I constantly grow in my faith each day IF I allow God to help me. Peter didn’t want Jesus to be the ‘suffering Messiah’ and he certainly didn’t want Him to die. He had to learn this and he did learn it the hard way. I must grow daily in my understanding of this GIFT of faith with which God has blessed me. Why do I believe? Because a God of love and caring wouldn’t make me look like an idiot or cut me to pieces. A God of love leads me always closer to love itself. So the crucial question for me and each person is “Who is Christ for me? Is He the Son of the Living God for me? Did He love me and show me how to be love? And if so, how does this belief affect the way I live?
So I reflect on:

• Do I ask each day ‘What does my faith ask of me?’
  
• I look at the gospels and see the values of Jesus. Do I realize that I will fall short, but that Jesus understands this and is still leading me closer?
  
• Jesus said that leaders in the new kingdom would be the servants of all, do I want to be served more than serving?
  

Sacred Space 2014 says:

“Jesus asks about what others say, but it is what Peter says that is important to Him. I may come to prayer motivated to pray for others, but God wants to be in touch with me personally. Prayer is my heart and God’s heart in conversation.

Jesus was not, for Peter, just another great or admirable figure. He was the one who could change his life. How do I let Jesus reconfigure my priorities?”