Take Up Your Cross

                   22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

In today’s first reading we meet a disgruntled, fed-up prophet. Jeremiah has been insulted, beaten, and even put up to public display and ridicule. He feels that he has been duped or fooled by the Lord, and thinks of giving up. 

 

I say to myself, I will not mention him,

I will speak in his name no more. 

 

Nevertheless, Jeremiah decides to go on. The word and love of God is like fire burning in his heart.

 

In today’s gospel Jesus reveals his goal and mission to his disciples for the first time. We remember that in last Sunday’s gospel he had asked them, “who do you say that I am.” Peter stepped forward and exclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” After Peter’s confession of faith, Jesus reveals the mission of the Christ.

 

The Son of Man must suffer greatly

      and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests,

      and the scribes,

      and be killed and on the third day be raised.

 

This shocking revelation is too much for Peter. It's one of the mysteries of the gospels that every time an Apostle speaks we can almost imagine ourselves speaking. Like Peter wouldn’t we want to take Jesus aside and say, “wait a minute. You’ve been so successful. You’ve just fed the multitude, and you’ve healed people wherever you’ve been. You’re only 33 and crowds are following you. This is just the beginning.”

 

I think that one of the reasons why the film, "The Passion of the Christ," caused such controversy was not because of the violence depicted but because we do not like the idea that our Lord had to suffer and die. We know that the Apostles didn't like it either. 

      

After all the wonderful things He had done, this was shocking news. Even more shocking was what He said next,

 

      If anyone wishes to come after me,

      he must deny himself

      and take up his cross daily and follow me.

      

What does it mean to take up our cross and deny ourselves? The persecution of Christians today has become so widespread and vicious that the news is finally breaking into the increasingly secular mainstream media. Events in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt can no longer be ignored in the age of You tube and social media. In China and India persecution is either sanctioned by the government, or ignored by government officials when it occurs.

 

Fortunately, most of us will be spared the call to martyrdom but we still have our own mission in life. For most of us our cross will seem kind of ordinary. But it will involve leaving our own desires behind and taking on a new responsibility. We have all been called to overcome our own selfishness and find our true selves in the service of others. 

 

I think first of fathers and mothers who dedicate themselves to the raising of their children. I think of teachers who dedicate themselves to the education of other people’s children. On Labor Day I think of all those who work to provide for their families. 

 

To save our lives, to find true happiness, we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and be willing to give up our lives for the sake of others. As we all know, this is not that easy and we may often regret it.

 

We live in an age of selfishness. We broadcast all our doings on social media. We take pictures of ourselves, our favorite subject. “Selfie” has even become a legitimate word. For years it has been fashionable for intellectuals to glorify individualism and criticize Christians for sacrificing themselves. It can be hard sometimes to wonder if we could have done something better with our lives if we had just pursued our own self-interest.

 

St. Paul addresses this issue in his letter to the newly converted Romans. He tells them to “be not conformed to this world.” Rather, he urges us to present our bodies as a sacrifice. Paul understood very well the words of Jesus in today’s gospel.

 

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

         but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world

And forfeit his life?

 

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Reading 1. Jeremiah 20: 7-9

Reading II. Romans 12: 1-2

Gospel. Matthew16: 21-27 (Get behind me, Satan!)

Keys of the Kingdom

                  21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

We do not have to be concerned with the circumstances in the time of the Prophet Isaiah that caused one man to lose his position of authority, and be replaced by another man. We see plenty of it in our own time. During the past few years a number of seemingly invincible dictators have fallen from power, and others seem soon to follow. 

 

In our own country politicians rise and fall with regularity. In the business world how many CEOs have been forced to step down in the past years? A good percentage of baseball managers and football coaches lose their jobs each year. Actually, you don’t have to be a big shot to have this experience. 

 

In today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah we are told that the master of the King’s palace will be stripped of his authority. His keys, the symbol of his authority, will be taken from him and given to another. This reading introduces today’s gospel account of the giving of the keys of authority to Peter. In Matthew’s account this incident occurs after Jesus had exhibited his power over and over again in various ways. In the previous chapter Matthew had told of the feeding of the multitude on two separate occasions, the walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee during a storm, and just last week the healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman.

 

After all these signs the Pharisees and the Sadducees still continued to doubt and test Jesus. He criticizes their blindness and warns his disciples not to follow their teaching. Like the master of the palace in Isaiah’s time, their authority will be taken from them. At this point, Jesus asks his disciples for feedback. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They relate what they have heard but then he asks for their own opinion. “But who do you say that I am?” 

 

Simon Peter answers, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” After this affirmation, Jesus changes Simon Peter’s name, and gives him the keys that will symbolize his authority

 

And so I say to you, you are Peter,

And upon this rock I will build my church,

And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

 

The changing of the name is as significant as the giving of the keys. Scholars tell us that the giving of a new name means that Jesus has given a new role to Peter. Peter may well have thought himself not ready for such great responsibility. During the storm on the Sea of Galilee he had doubted and only the Lord’s intervention had rescued him. In next week’s gospel we will see that Peter’s objections to Jesus’ announcement of his ultimate mission, led our Lord to rebuke him severely. Finally, Peter would even deny Jesus three times during the Passion.

 

We know that Peter, and the Apostles, and their successors have been given special authority. But I like to think that we all, despite our imperfections and failings, have been given the keys to our own little palaces. The message of the gospels is clear. We are all called to be good and faithful stewards. There is no doubt that we will think ourselves unworthy of the task, and that we will often stumble and falter. How many times will we look back and wonder if we could have done things better? 

 

I believe that today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans deals with this very point. He writes,

 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!

 

How many times have we heard the expression that God works in mysterious ways? St. Paul himself never tired of referring to his own weakness, and noted that God uses the weak of the to accomplish His objectives. Despite his weakness and failings, Jesus said to Peter,

 

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

 

This is a responsibility that all of us are called to share when it comes to our own families, friends, and neighbors.

 

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Reading 1. Isaiah 22: 19-23

Reading II. Romans 11: 33-36

Gospel. Matthew 16: 13-20 (you are Peter)  

Canaanite Woman

                   20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

It is very clear from all three readings today that the Church wishes to impart the message that the Word of God is for all, irrespective of race, nation, gender, social status, or even religious belief. In the first reading from the Book of Isaiah, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet exclaims that foreigners “who join themselves to the Lord” will be welcome and that the Lord’s house “shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

 

Today’s gospel passage from the fifteenth chapter of St. Matthew highlights one foreigner in particular, the Canaanite woman. Let’s put the encounter of Jesus with this woman into context. Two Sunday’s ago we heard the account of the miracle of the feeding of the multitude that had followed Jesus into a deserted place. Following that significant event we heard last week of the storm on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus appeared to the disciples walking on the water. In that storm we remember that Peter had faltered until our Lord had saved him. Jesus said to Peter, “Why did you falter, you of little faith?”

 

Following these two great manifestations of power, Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a land foreign to the Jews. It is the home of the Canaanites, longtime enemies of the Jews. However, Matthew tells us that Jesus was approached by a Canaanite woman who implored his assistance for her daughter who was possessed by demons. She called out,

 

Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!

My daughter is tormented by a demon.

 

We are told that Jesus did not respond to her request. But the Apostles step in and ask him to send her away. He seems to ignore their request and says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Before anyone has a chance to act, the woman speaks up a second time. She does homage to Jesus and exclaims, “Lord, help me.” The reply of Jesus seems so uncharacteristic:

 

It is not right to take the food of the children

And throw it to the dogs.

 

It is hard to hear Jesus speak in such a harsh, and seemingly insulting manner. We would like to think that it is just a figure of speech, a kind of popular proverb. Dogs was the common word used by the Jews to describe Gentiles or unbelievers. In any case, He is hesitant just as he was hesitant to comply with His own Mother’s request at the marriage feast at Cana. 

 

What is more serious than the words used by Jesus are his actions. At Cana, he did accede to his Mother’s request but in the presence of the Canaanite woman, he seems to be thinking it over. Maybe dog is a harsh word but how could he help this woman and her poor daughter possessed by demons? By this time he had already helped or cured thousands of people but he insisted that it was their faith that saved them. How could this woman have faith? She did not know Moses and the Prophets. She had no knowledge of Jewish law or tradition. She probably even worshipped idols.

 

Nevertheless, the woman refuses to take no for an answer and responds to the words of Jesus:

 

Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps

That fall from the table of their masters.

 

She does have faith. She does believe that He can help her daughter and her persistence is rewarded.

 

Jesus says to her in reply:

 

‘O woman, great is your faith!

Let it be done for you as you wish.’

 

So many people in the bible are rewarded for their persistence. We think of the woman bothering the judge until he rules in her favor; the man waking his neighbor asking for food in the middle of the night; and the poor crippled beggar who had waited at the pool of Siloam for years to be healed. Persistence is not one of the great virtues but without it none of them would be possible.

 

 

The plight of the Canaanite woman brings to mind the plight of so many today who have children or relatives suffering from mental illness. Doctors can prescribe medication and treatment but that is often a hit or miss proposition. Often the only thing we can do is hope and pray, and persist in faith, hope, and charity toward those who are suffering. 

 

In today’s second reading from the letter to the Romans, St. Paul says that “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” It is a little hard to follow his line of reasoning but he is saying that when some reject the call, it will go to others, but that the others will then have the duty to reach out to those who have gone astray.

 

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Reading 1. Isaiah 56: 1, 6=7

Reading II. Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32

Gospel. Matthew 15: 21-28 (Canaanite Woman)

Storm at Sea

                   19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

Today’s first reading is from the first Book of Kings and deals with an episode from the life of the prophet Elijah, the greatest of all the Prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures. Elijah  had been fleeing from enemies who sought to kill him, and finally had found refuge in a cave on Mt. Horeb. He feels alone and abandoned but then hears a voice. He is told to go to the entrance of the cave and wait for the Lord. 

 

Immediately, he encounters a strong wind with hurricane like force, then an earthquake, and then fire. But the Lord was not in these terrible forces of nature. Finally, Elijah heard a “tiny whispering sound” and knew that the Lord was present. Like all Jews and unlike the gentiles Elijah knew that God was not a God of earthquake, wind, or fire. Actually, by the time of Jesus most educated Greeks and Romans had ceased to believe in the gods of nature. Their philosophers and poets had even begun to laugh at them. One Roman poet named Lucretius, who died only 50 years before the birth of Jesus, insisted that things like earthquakes and storms had natural causes, and were not caused by angry gods.

 

In today’s Gospel Jesus seems equally unconcerned with the forces of nature. Matthew relates that a strong wind had come up in the middle of the night that prevented the disciples’ boat from making any progress. Then, Jesus, who had stayed behind to pray,  comes to them walking on the water. It was this apparition that really frightened them for they thought it was a ghost. Jesus tried to calm them:

 

Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.

 

Finding it hard to believe, Peter responds, “Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus responds, “Come”.

 

The rest of the story is familiar. Peter starts out, but then, like all of us, he doubts and starts to sink. Fortunately, he cries out, “Lord, save me,” and Jesus gives him His hand and says the famous words, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Then they both get into the boat and the wind dies down.  

 

How can we not sympathize with St. Peter here? How many of us have taken the plunge only to falter on the way and let our doubts overcome us? How can we not see that our Lord’s words are addressed to us all as we go through the storms of life? For some the story of the storm at sea is a great and awesome miracle. For others, it is a sign of something else like the way Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist. But for me it is a simple human story of belief, doubt, and then rescue. Rather than castigate St. Peter for his doubt, the Church has always held him up as a model for us.

 

In a way, this message is reflected in today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul is so distraught by the fact that many of his Jewish brethren cannot follow Christ. He glories in his Jewish heritage.

 

They are Israelites;

Theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants,

The giving of the law, the worship and the promises;

Theirs the patriarchs, and from them,

According to the flesh, is the Christ…

 

He says that he would be willing to give up everything for their sake. We should not take Paul’s words as just applying to Jews 2000 years ago. For him, Israel was his family, his history, his culture, and his whole life. How many of us have family and friends who have lost their faith, their culture, and rich history and tradition? What are we to do? We can only reach out our hands to them. We can only be willing to give up everything for their sake.

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Reading 1. I Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a

Reading II. Romans 9: 1-5

Gospel. Matthew 14: 22-33 (Why did you doubt?)

 

Image Note: Storm at Sea Stained Glass window. Our Lady of the Assumption church, Fairfield, CT