22nd Sunday Year A - Homily 4

 Homily 4 - 2017

In last Sunday’s Gospel, we had Peter exclaiming, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and we heard Jesus responding, Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jonah, For it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I say to you, You are Peter, the rock, and on this rock I shall build my Church. Peter was on a roll. But then immediately after that incident, we have today’s Jesus saying, Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s. Peter the rock became Peter the stumbling block.

Before we say, Poor Peter! There he goes again! let’s see if there might not be something of Peter in all of us. Peter was thinking of, hoping for, a triumphant Christ, the Messiah to end all messiahs. The thought of a Christ who would suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death by that religious authority, was beyond comprehension.

Was it a good thing, or a bad thing, that Jesus be treated that way?

What sort of a Christ do we want? Perhaps, to bring it a bit closer to our present predicament – What sort of Church do we want, here in Australia, now? Do we want a triumphant Church, an influential Church, a Church with clout, a respected Church, a Church taken note of? Or a Church up against the ropes? A Church despised, spoken ill of, no longer respected or influential? You know how it feels to be a Catholic in today’s climate, wondering what the next headline will be – feeling confused, bewildered, ashamed, angry, perhaps betrayed. Perhaps even wanting to hit back, somehow.

Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, that the Church is, you are, treated that way?

Today’s Gospel reading went on, If people want to be followers of mine, let them renounce themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will find it. What is that saying? And did Jesus mean it?

Did you notice that little comment of St Paul hidden away in the middle of today’s Second Reading? Let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind. That is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good. What is this new mind, this new behaviour modelled by our new mind? I think it is precisely what Jesus was getting at when he started his public mission and kept on insisting, The Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent! and believe the good news. It is not just a new mind. It is new eyes, new ears, new heart.

If the Kingdom of God is close at hand, and if it is good news, perhaps we need new eyes, new ears, to notice it, to be aware of it.

The power of Jesus evidenced in his miracles got him nowhere. It had no impact on the Jewish authorities. It seemed to have little lasting effect on the crowds, either, because many of them, when the chips were down, joined in crying out for his crucifixion . It was his death, leading into his largely unobserved resurrection, that eventually led some to change.

It was in the context of powerlessness that Jesus’ authority was greatest. Why do you believe him? Because of his miracles? Or might it be because of the way he died, why he died, because of the personal integrity, the depth of love, the astonishing readiness to forgive, the humility that you see every time you look at a crucifix?

Can we look at our present predicament as Church, as individual Catholics, with a new mind, and see there the traces of God’s gentle presence, the quiet influence of God’s Spirit? Is this an unprecedented opportunity to grow in humility, to find a new and life-giving impact drawn from quiet integrity under stress, expressed in genuine pastoral sensitivity?