Embracing, Praying and finding the Truth

 

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jer 20:7-9, Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9, Rom 12:1-2, Gospel: MT 16:21-27

(Video: https://www.facebook.com/stanthonyofpaduadenver/videos/3521886977849992)

Starts at 13:30

How many of you are aware of the prayer that goes with the beginning of each of the stations of the Cross?  The prayer goes “We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world”.  I would like to use that prayer today to reflect on the scriptures today, to go through the readings and to take a look at what it means for us as Christians to take up our Cross and to follow the Lord.  

We will begin with the Gospel, where Jesus begins to lay out God’s plan for His disciples.  His disciples are you and I brothers and sisters, so Christ is very much speaking to us.  He comes to us and says that it was necessary for him to suffer and to die in a humiliating way.  When Peter hears this, and I think at times when we hear this we have the same response - No that is not appropriate for God, that is below God’s dignity.  It does not conform with my image of God.  That is where we need to stop and listen to the Scriptures.  This is exactly Peter’s response, “God forbid such a thing ever happen to you Lord!”  In Peter’s mind God should not be put through such humiliation, it is below his office, below his place in the universe.  That he would be at a point that the people who should care and love him the most - the priests, scribes and elders would be the ones humiliating him and killing him.  This is so far beyond where Peter thinks that God should be that Peter take’s Jesus aside and rebukes him. 

Keep in mind that just recently in the Gospel Jesus was saying to him “You are Peter, you are the rock, your faith is the faith that I will build my Church on.  Yet

not 3 verses later Jesus is saying to Peter - Get behind me Satan, you are an obstacle to me, you are not thinking as God does but as man does.  We have to ask ourselves what is it that God is thinking that Peter cannot see?  That we can’t see?

Often, our images and impressions of who God is are formed in such deep ways in our lives that it is really hard for us to hear the scriptures.  It is really hard for us to see where God is trying to lead us.  Because at the heart of what Jesus is saying to Peter, you and I is that God’s love is so immense that it is willing to forbear tremendous injustices so that we can know how much God loves us.  He is willing to go to the Cross to dignify our suffering. There he turns around to us and invites us to imitate him. 

Lent is a special time of prayer and meditation on the sufferings of Christ with that prayer that we began this homily as a way of integrating into our lives that reality.

Jesus turns upside down Peter’s life.  He says to Peter “Get behind me” because Peter is trying to lead the Lord, it is as if Peter is Christ’s “Media Manager”.  “Lord, this message is not going to resonate well on Facebook, we need to alter it”  Jesus responds, “No, get behind me satan, you are not thinking as God does, you don’t see the love that God is trying to pour out through my life.  You need to follow me and pay attention so you can go where I go.”

The rebuke that Christ gives to Peter is the same rebuke that He gives to us, we are called to get behind him and to walk the way of the Cross just as He called Peter to do.

How can we do this practically?  There are 3 ways for us to think about - How can I take up the cross and follow the Lord?  

• Embrace the Cross

• Pray at the foot of the Cross and

• Receive Healing through the Cross.

The first thing we need to do is to Embrace the Cross. Take a moment and consider - where in my life do I need to embrace the Cross?  Maybe you wear a cross every day as a reminder to yourself of your Christianity, or maybe you have a Crucifix in your house.  I invite you this week to take a moment when you put on that cross in the morning, or when you pause before that crucifix that you remember that prayer from the Stations of the Cross “We Adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world” as a way of Embracing the Cross

St. Paul today in the Romans talks to us about ways we can embrace the Cross.  He says “I urge you brothers and sisters by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.”  As Christians we recognize that we have a physical expression of our faith and we realize that the things that we do matter in our spiritual lives.  For that reason when we enter the Church we bless ourselves with Holy Water and genuflect acknowledging Christ’s presence in the Tabernacle, and that we make the sign of the Cross as we begin to enter into prayer.  These are all physical reminders of us that we bear in our bodies a living sacrifice.  

What are we putting to death in our bodies?  We are putting death to sin.  Death to those false ideas we have of who God is that cause us to separate ourselves from Him.  Much as Peter had to put to death his own ideas of who the Christ should be in order to allow Jesus to be himself.   

St. John Chrysostum gives the following ways that we can put to death Sin in our bodies.

“Let the eye look at no evil thing - it has already become a sacrifice.  This is a practice that St. Francis of Assisi had, he struggled with the sin of lust, so he would avert his eyes to help him avoid falling into sin.

Let the tongue say nothing filthy - and it has become an offering. Many of us have fallen into this rut of behavior that is leading us away from God.  A way that we can attack that is to put to death that action in our lives.

Let your hand do nothing evil, and it has become a whole burnt offering.  The actions that we do, especially against the people we perceive to be our enemies, what can I do to modify my behavior so I have grace in my body to imitate Jesus Christ.

Paul Goes onto say “Do not conform yourselves to this age  but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”  That we would allow our minds to be transformed by the person of Jesus Christ’s profound love for us by the sufferings that he offered for us on the Cross because Christ chooses to dignify our suffering by entering into it himself so that as we go through suffering we can see that Christ comes to suffer with us and to share that burden with us.  This response is attested to in Luke’s Gospel “Lean on me for my yoke is easy and my burden light”.  Jesus comes to walk the way of the Cross with us.

John Chrysostum goes on to say “Unite to this sacrifice Good Works also…”, so as I work to rid my life of the practices of evil, I pour in the practices of good.

The hand must give alms

The mouth must bless those who curse it

and the ears must find time to listen to the reading of scripture.”

The second way that we can embrace the cross is by beginning to pray at the foot of the cross.  That is why the prayer “We adore you O Christ and we praise you because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.” can become such a help for us through our lives.

The Psalm today speaks to this matter - it begins “O God, you are my God, for you I long.  My body pines for you in the dry weary land without water, as I gaze on you in your sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.”      

If we think about life without God, it is dead because God is the source of all life.  He brings us into life.  

When we look at who it was who prayed at the foot of the Cross, it was the Blessed Mother and John the Evangelist.  They knelt there as He went through His humiliation, His suffering and the offering of His life as a sacrifice to the Father.  Mary and John witnessed these things in this moment of prayer, and took them deep into their hearts to shape their relationship with God.  That is what prayer at the foot of the Cross is calling us to do.       

If you have that crucifix in your house one of the things that you can do is to take some time each day to kneel at the foot of the Cross putting yourself in the place of St. John or the Blessed Mother and begin to meditate on the love that God has for you that He so much desires to be united to you and to pour himself out for you through His humiliation.  

Finally, we go back to the first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah so that we can begin to meditate on the healing that flows from the Cross.  If we enter into this encounter with Christ we realize that there is an encounter with love that we celebrate here today. 

Towards the end of the Psalm the psalmist says - “with the riches of the banquet my soul shall be satisfied”.  If you think about that from a Catholic perspective the banquet is the Eucharist.  Our souls are fed with and nourished with the Body of Christ here today.  If you remember with Mary and St. John as they knelt at the foot of the Cross the Roman soldier came along and pierced the side of Christ with a Lance so that Blood and Water flowed from his side as he hung upon the Cross.  The Water is symbolic of Baptism and the Blood is symbolic of the Eucharist.  

The banquet that the Psalm speaks about is the Eucharist that we share today.  Baptism is that gift that God has given us to conqueror sin in our lives.  When we pray “We adore you O Christ and we praise you because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world” we begin to see how the power of these sacraments infuses all the actions of our lives to gives us the strength to live a life of conversion.

In the reading from Jeremiah we begin to see how Healing flows from the Cross.  Jeremiah begins “You duped me O Lord and I let myself be duped, for you were too strong for me and you triumphed.  All the day I am an object of laughter and everyone mocks me.”  When we hear this we think - that does not sound like a prophet, that sounds like someone who is bitter with God, who is angry with God because of what he has been through.  This is true, because in the beginning of this chapter of Jeremiah begins with the Chief Priest of the temple of Jerusalem arresting Jeremiah and putting him in the stocks before the temple so that anyone walking by Jeremiah can do whatever they want to him and he is helpless to respond.  

We see in Jeremiah that he is processing his embarrassment, his humiliation and we hear him say “I say to myself I will not mention him!  I will speak his name no more.”  In essence Jeremiah is saying to God - “I am taking my toys and going home because I am tired of being embarrassed by you Lord.”  

How does Jeremiah find healing in this?

Jeremiah recognizes “But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.”  The Word of God comes to Jeremiah and he recognizes the truth that he is called to be God’s prophet and he cannot deny the truth.  It is a profound reality of the universe that the truth brings about healing - which is why Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life”.  In this Mass Jesus Christ comes to us in the Eucharist so that we can recall who Christ has called us to be and the mission he has called us to be on.  In that encounter with the Lord today I invite you to bring the suffering, the cross you are being called to embrace, and to spend a moment in prayer with Him in that truth so that truth can bring healing.      

Jeremiah recognizes his vocation and even though it brings him pain and difficulty he goes on to continue to fulfill his vocation as a prophet to speak the words of truth to those in power who need to hear them and be converted because that is the mission that God calls him to.   

Brothers and Sisters the Lord has called us to many different missions here because we are the Body of Christ.  He has given us the grace of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist to nourish and strengthen us.  He has given us the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we can respond to his love and to witness that love to the world.  That is the purpose for which God gathers us here together today.   

Let us take a moment this week and embrace the cross, to pray at the foot of the cross and to find healing through Gods immense love.

We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

 

Forgive us our trespasses...

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle A

A Boat ride on the Sea of Galiliee
We don’t know from scripture what led to the incident in the Gospel reading today.  St. Matthew does not say.  Following St. Ignatius I want us to use our active imagination and put ourselves into the situation with Peter and Jesus.  Imagine that Peter has offered to take Jesus out on his fishing boat in the late afternoon / early evening to escape the heat of the day and enjoy a cool breeze on the Sea of Galilee.  So, they go down to the boat to depart, and instead of finding everything in order, it is a total mess.  Peter knows instantly that it was his brother who left this mess. – Andrew!  He is steamed by his brother’s messiness and really annoyed.  After all Andrew has been a slob and his messiness has ruined what would have been a wonderful evening.

Yet at the same time Peter knows that Jesus is calling him to conversion, to forgiveness, even of his own annoying brother.  So with that in mind he turns to Jesus and asks him.  "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?  Seven Times?”  Perhaps forgiving Andrew seven seems to be a lot.

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 

Oops, thinks Peter, I guess I need to work on my ability to forgive my brother…

But why Lord?  I don’t understand.  Look at this mess, Look at the impact it has on me as I need to take away from our time together to clean it up.  Look at how it ruined our evening!

Where is your heart looking - to yourself or to God?
The book of Sirach gives us some clues about why imitating the love of God is ultimately good for us.  It starts us where Peter is at – Look at how I suffer from Andrew’s sin!  It starts us at where our heart is at, and then leads us to where God’s heart is at.

Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.

Injustice to the self?
When we are busy caught up in injustice it is often not a holy justice, but a selfish sense of justice.  And for the reason of the logic of the injustice, we can’t get beyond ourselves and the wrong to understand the injury from God’s perspective.  For this reason, we hug tightly to our sinfulness.

The backpack of Gruges?
Think of that image for a second.  It is like we wear a backpack of grudges, and every time we experience an injustice, instead of forgiving, and loving, we stuff the injustice into our grudge pack and keep on going.  And then the day comes when the grudge pack is full, and someone gives us another grudge, and gets a whole lot back in return!

Christ calls us to conversion
Yet Christ calls us to conversion.  To forgiveness.  Instead of holding onto those grudges, slights, injustices ourselves, he calls us to give them to God.  We surrender judgment to God who can judge justly, who judges with mercy.  Whose justice is his mercy and whose mercy is his justice because God’s justice is aimed at bringing about an authentic communion of love and relationship with himself and with one another.

God invites us into this relationship, but gives us the freedom to choose or reject it.

Forgive your neighbor's injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?

Forgive us…
This challenge is codified in the Our Father – Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

IDEA:  Pray an Our Father each day for each person that you feel that you are angry / vengeful towards.  Do this on your way to work with them or when you recognize that you are avoiding them.  It is a way of keeping this idea from Sirach foremost in our hearts.

How to respond to Injustice
When we face those who treat us unjustly, who sin against us, or persecute us, then how do we respond?  With Mercy and forgiveness, with prayer and thanksgiving.  Jesus shows this in the parable he explains to Peter

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 

God is the King, we are the Servants
The King is God, and we are the servants.  We are in debt to God on account that he created us and invites us into a relationship of co-creation with himself, and we are called to witness the love of God to one another, and yet in our sin we destroy God’s gift.  This is the debt that we cannot repay.

How does the king respond to this debtor.
1. He listens!
2. He speaks the truth with love – he points out the reality of the debt.
3. He has a greater mercy than the debtor can even imagine.  The debtor pleads for time to repay and the King forgives.  This is extra-ordinary love!
4. The King’s response leads the servant to Freedom so he can choose to love God more fully – rather than imprisoning him.

This is important because the King teaches us how to be like Christ.

How do we respond to this gift of Mercy?
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.'

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused.  Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. 

Does the Servant Imitate the King?
When we are angry with others, when we are hurt by others do we choose to imitate the love of Christ?  Do we imitate the love and generosity and forgiveness of God?  This servant does not, and when the King hears how his forgiven servant responds, he has the servant suffer for failing to learn the lesson.

• The servant does not listen – he says Give me my Money!
• The servant does not forgive – he impressions
• The servant does not lead his brother to freedom, he insists on getting “His right”.

The servant does not imitate the generosity and mercy of God.  He is owed much less, and yet his response is less generous.  His heart is hard, his goal is the self and not God’s Plan

Baptism - we are called to imitate the mercy of the King as a sacrifice.
This is why we have the second reading – to help us to understand our mission as Christians in the world.

Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.  

What is our orientation in life – for myself and the little debts that I am owed – debts of justice, debts of uncharity, debts of cruelty?  Or is my orientation to imitate Christ and his love?

For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord;

Baptism is a commission to be a source of forgiveness
To die is to suffer the injustice of another and then to offer it in prayer for the salvation of the other.  Remember that it is by our Baptism that we enter into the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.  In our Baptism we are called to share in the priestly ministry of offering sacrifice for those who cause us to suffer.  Jesus took our debts with him into the grave when he died on the Cross, and then he left them there and rose to eternal life with God the Father.

so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Are we watering the seed of eternal life we were given at Baptism with these opportunities for prayer, forgiveness and grace, or are we ignoring the invitations of the King?