September 16, 2018

 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Isaiah 50: 5-9; James 2: 14-18; Mark 8: 27 -35 So if I was one of the disciples or maybe a relative just tagging along and I listened to Jesus’ question to His followers, how would I answer it? Would I try to hide, like students who don’t want to be embarrassed in front of their teachers by giving a wrong answer? Would I be eager to answer this question? Who do I really believe that Jesus is to me today? After following Jesus all this time and witnessing His healings and listening to His preaching and how He treated people, I would be anxious to hear Jesus tell me who He is. And He does…am I listening? Do I know the implications for me? Am I living accordingly? All Christians should ask themselves regularly: Is Jesus the Lord of my life? Is Jesus the most important person to me? Do I worship, praise, adore and honor Him accordingly? Each day we live we should accept the Lordship of Jesus more and see our own inflated self-importance diminish. Do I? We all have different positions of authority and are the ‘in-charge’ person in a few or many areas. Does this ‘go to my head’? How often do I live this way and then ‘my balloon bursts’? At these times do I recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit leading me closer to who God is in my life? He constantly does this! Throughout the Gospel of Mark, the evangelist is very careful not to reveal Jesus’ true identity. Often those who were healed were commanded by Jesus not to tell anyone. Scripture scholars call this ‘the Messianic Secret’. Another question is trying to trace how and when Jesus became conscious of His Messianic status. But Jesus commanded people He had healed to be silent about it , certainly an impossibility and we see that they disobeyed this request. It really was impossible for anyone to accept Jesus as Messiah until after the Resurrection. Often the people referred to Jesus as a prophet. His disciples viewed Him as the Messiah: a Davidic king, a warrior, an Apocalyptic figure (Daniel 7: 13-14). Jesus explains exactly what kind of Messiah He is: Like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Jesus is the Son of Man who will suffer and be rejected, killed, and raised after three days. Peter for one didn’t like or approve of this kind of Messiah. Jesus’ response, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.” Jesus will repeat His passion prediction two more times in Mark (Mark 9: 31 and 10: 33-34). But still the apostles only understood this after the Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them. I made reference to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. Isaiah introduces four oracles about this individual. (Isaiah 42: 1-4…49: 1-7…50: 4-11 and 52: 13 - 53: 12) In each the servant’s hardship increases, until in the last one, he is killed (Isaiah 53:8). Sr. Mary M. McGlone a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet and a historical theologian shares this about Isaiah’s selection today. “In today’s passage, the third of the servant songs, Isaiah depicts a servant - disciple, a prophet and more. As a disciple, his every day begins with obedient listening; he is in intimate communion with God, sharing God’s own heart. Because he is a prophet, the rest of his day is spent in spreading God’s word to the weary, or as Isaiah says in another place, giving hope to those who walk in the shadow of death. More than any other prophet, Isaiah’s servant submits to suffering, accepting it without complaint.” James is telling us that it is important to value the gift of faith given us by God. But more importantly what am I doing about it? Do I share my faith or is it just between ‘me and God’? If I’m concerned only with myself, this can make me deaf to the presence of God. It can easily isolate me from God’s compassion in the midst of conflict and anger and in the midst of brokenness and hurt. Do I listen to others with empathy…listening to them from their perspective? Do I realize that seeking the real meaning of happiness is experienced in seeing fulfillment in other’s lives? We can talk a good ballgame but we have to play the game. My faith must be seen in my actions, the way I live my life. I must constantly be making choices on how is the best way I can live as Jesus today. Jesus is expressing this today when He tells every one of His disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after Me just deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake and that of the gospel will save it.” How do I do this? Every day I have sorrows and laughs, I have rewards and disappointments, I see love and hurt and I am commanded by Jesus to bring these with me as I love those God places in my life each day. I am asked to put aside my own importance, needs and dreams to help that ‘other person.’ I am asked to bring dignity, comfort and hope to another, just as I have received. If they don’t see Jesus in me, where will they see Jesus? When I bring forth and affirm the gifts of others and ask for forgiveness, I am the ‘servant’ who gains my life by losing it for the ‘sake of the Kingdom.’ Jesus is the suffering servant…am I putting myself in His shoes and being a servant to others? Living the Word, Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for Sundays and Holy Days shares these words about today’s Gospel. “Peter was identifying Jesus as the Christ. He did not want to hear that Jesus would be rejected and killed. Jesus makes clear that suffering and taking up one’s cross are part of life as His disciple. Whoever wishes to save one’s life will lose it, but whoever loses one’s life for Jesus’ and the gospel’s sake will save it. St. Francis de Sales advised us not to go looking for suffering. No, simply accept the crosses that are part of being alive or being faithful to the gospel. Opposition need not stop us. Suffering is the pits, but healing, wholeness and new life come from forging ahead with God, who is our help.” So I reflect on: • How do I handle that suffering that is part of life? • What crosses have helped me to find healing, wholeness and new life? • Who are the ‘children of God’ to me? Does it include Christian and non-Christian alike? • Earlier in Mark’s gospel, we are told to set our gifts down and go make peace with our brothers and sisters before we make an offering to God. Is this realistic? Do I avoid this statement? • When I say, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,’ do I really mean it? • What is the importance to me for the sacrament of reconciliation? Am I afraid of being honest? Can this sacrament lead me to change? Am I afraid of changing? Sacred Space 2018 shares: “This is a painful scene: first Peter rebukes Jesus, then Jesus rebukes Peter. We can sympathize with Peter, because which of us can bear the thought of our best friend being tortured and killed? But Jesus tells Peter that God’s plans are so much bigger than he imagines. Someone has said that God’s dreams come to us several sizes too large! It takes us time to grow into them. What about my inner growth; have I stopped growing at some point, so that God cannot do more creative work with me?”