August 29, 1999 |
Recall last weekend's Gospel where Jesus called Peter to be the Rock and to build the church upon the solid rock of his faith. This weekend's Gospel serves as a challenge for Peter, the disciples, and Jesus' listeners to remain steadfast in their convictions of faith. He reminds them that "they must deny themselves and take up the cross." And by embracing the cross and accepting all that it entails, the glory of the Kingdom shall be theirs.
Even though we are a faith community living nearly two thousand years after these challenging words expressed by Jesus, the foundation of this challenge remains the same. To be a Christian in our society is to dare to be different. And there is a price tag on that. To be truly Christian we must fall out of step with the crowd. Allowing us not to be conformed to this age but rather putting aside all striving for self. Jesus showed this to his disciples through his ministry, preaching, teaching and ultimately through his death on the cross. No one in this present age should go to his or her death on a cross, but rather we are called to take up the cross of our faith and bear it faithfully.
During this week as you head into the workplace, your schools, and your homes, ask yourself these questions many times throughout the week. What has Jesus called me to be? What needs to happen in my life for me to understand what Jesus intends for me? Name the ways that you take up the Lord's cross.
May you have many blessings this week!!
Father Jeff
At the Last Supper in the Gospel of John we see Jesus doing the work of a servant. When He had finished washing the feet of the disciples He told them that they should follow His example. They were to "serve" one another in whatever way was needed.
In this day and age few of us have household servants. Most of us hire others to do the things we don't like to do or unable to do when we can afford it. We don't think of this "service" as servanthood or slavery. We look at it as a job that has to be done and for whatever reason we can't get to it, we "hire" someone else to do it. It is all too easy to throw money at a "problem" or "job" as a substitute for our presence.
As Church Jesus calls us to "pay attention" to the needs of others and respond to those needs with our presence. St. Paul said it this way: we need one another. The Church works like a body where all parts work together. So individual parts can not "opt out" of functioning without causing serious harm to the whole body
Last week's gospel gave us Simon Peter's confession "You are the Christ". Nevertheless within the same chapter of MT. 16, we already find Peter having second thoughts as we find in the reading for this Sunday, "May you be spared, Master! God forbid that any such thing ever happen to you. MT 16:22"
I would like to suggest that we should not be surprised nor overwhelmed if the following of Jesus is difficult, and challenging. To be a disciple means that we slowly become aware of what is expected. Now we judge not by the ways of secular society but by the message and person of Jesus.
This doesn't happen just once. Many times we are faced with decisions that may involve sacrifice if we are to be faithful. As the prophet Jeremiah reminds in the first reading: "The word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach all the day" (Jer.20.8b).
We, along with Peter, are invited by the Lord to put our trust in our heavenly Father. There is much that comes our way -family decisions, school, work, friends - how do we decide? Jesus says, "take up your cross and follow me"! MT 16.24
Fr. Ron
Last Sunday a priest from the Diocese of Machakos in Kenya, Africa, spoke at all the Masses as has happened every summer for at least the last twenty-five years. Sitting in the rectory and talking with Father Peter Mandino was an interesting experience. Reflecting upon those conversations, I asked myself, "Whose existence is real, his or mine?"
It is a long distance from Lenexa, Kansas to Kenya, Africa. And culturally there is a distance between the two places also. We expect the modern amenities of life to be a necessary part of our lives. The Kenyans marvel at anyone who has more than the bare necessities of living.
I asked Father Peter what I could get him for dinner. I forget his exact answer but it was the equivalent of our American, "Whatever." Since I was not going to be home for dinner, due to a previous engagement, I felt obliged to provide for him. He looked in the refrigerator and saw a chicken wing...no other parts...and said, "That will be enough."
I have never looked in the fridge and said about a chicken wing, "That will be enough." Although he had other choices he never touched the coleslaw, the tea, the vegetables or anything else in that wonderful cool place. He had a chicken wing for dinner. And he was very pleased and happy.
Coming home later, I found him watching television. Asked whether he had color TV, he was quick to respond "No." Queried on whether I could get him something to drink, he replied, "A glass of water."
Sometimes in the midst of what we have, we fail to consider what others have or don't have. Sometimes what we do have gets in the way of who and what we should be or strive to be.
The time has come for children, adolescents, young adults to return to the experiences of structured, formal education. Discussions of achievement, motivation, cooperation, rules of conduct and all the many other considerations that are integral to teaching and learning become topics of conversation. Choices follow. Positive effects the goal.
The time has come for the customary practice of blessing prayers for students. This can easily put the onus on the young and dismiss responsibilities of those with more life experience.
What about parents? We say they are the primary teachers of their children. Their efforts at example speak volumes more than words can say. I find it encouraging when I see the littlest persons pausing as they enter church to sign themselves with holy water. Not the most major point of learning, but a beginning practice whereby boys and girls come to understand that what takes place in church is important. Exposure the mystery in ways that allow understanding to grow need not always be detached with the distraction of toys and games. Children learn social skills when adults have a comfort level that guides them to be patient in their expectations and clear in setting limits of activity acceptable for family standards. Simple acts like habitually coming late and leaving early can be contradictory to the words we use to say Mass is special. The old message that "religion is caught more than taught" holds especially true for those who understand faith is always something we are called to practice for ourselves and for others that they learn from good example. This is true however old, wise, or experienced we might think ourselves to be.
What about teachers? Professional qualifications are only a beginning. Directing energy to help the young see the world from a larger perspective, to expand their appreciation of goodness-truth-beauty, to accept their unique worth and personal possibilities can be exhausting but it leads to a "good tired." Parents entrust the life-miracle of their children to a school setting. In attitude and action teachers are called to reflect an appreciation of this level of parental trust.
What about the learners? From their first experience of reaching out to respond to place and person, to grasp an object, the process of learning enriches for the duration of life. It's less than helpful that our practice speaks of grades and graduation, of measurements and evaluations. The perception which results too easily focuses on ends rather than continuation, on leaving school rather than on an attitude of continued learning.
For whatever we do to celebrate the mystery of our ability to learn and to share knowledge, we pray the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Another school year begins. The possibilities and effects touch all.
THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000 should be seen as a time of the Lord's favor (Lk 4:18-19, Is 61:2, and Lev 25:10), in which the presence of the Holy Spirit will be more deeply experienced, impelling Christians to preach the Gospel with new power, giving hope of liberation to the marginalized and the oppressed (Avery Dulles, John Paul II and the Advent of the New Millennium, America 175:19, 11). Jesus, the teacher, is anointed by the spirit of the Lord to proclaim good news to the poor and to everyone a year of jubilee-a time of freedom from bondage, restoration, forgiveness of debts, and favor from the Lord (cf.Lk 4:18-19). - Today, we are called to imitate the great followers of Christ who have cooperated with God's grace in the transformation of the world in such social justice movements as the abolition of slavery and the death penalty; the promotion of civil rights, the rights of workers, and women's rights; the expansion of higher education opportunities; and respect for life from conception to natural death. The jubilee tradition reminds us that all the earth is God's and we are stewards of that earth. Being jubilee people, we must not be afraid to build in the next century a civilization worthy of the human person, a true culture of freedom.
