Thursday, August 8, 2013

Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest

(Numbers 20:1-13; Matthew 16:13-23)

“’You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do,’” Jesus tells Peter in the gospel today.  The lead disciple has just denied that Jesus will have to suffer and die because he is the Messiah.  He wouldn’t say the same thing to Dominic as a young cleric.

Dominic was studying in Palencia, Spain, when the region underwent a famine. The poor were perishing, but few rich people or the authorities came to their assistance.  Dominic could not bear the sight.  He gave away all his possessions to the poor and even sold the parchments he had for study with the proceeds going to feed the hungry.  Eventually Dominic founded his order based on radical poverty.  He did not mean to burden anyone but to preach that peace comes from trusting in God.

It may not be prudent to empty our bank accounts on behalf of charity. But it is certainly unjust to horde money or to spend it lavishly while people suffer want.  We should pray for the gifts of wisdom and generosity that we may come to think and live as God would have us do.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, priest

(Numbers 20:1-13; Matthew 16:13-23)

St. John Vianney is universally admired for his dedication to ministry. Feeling called to the priesthood, he pursued his goal doggedly although he was handicapped by never having mastered Latin as a child. Once ordained, however, he became widely respected as a confessor and listened to confessions throughout the day. Like Peter in the gospel today, John Vianney was inspired by God to reach beyond personal limitations to new heights.

Most significant about Matthew’s presentation of the famous happening in Caesarea Philippi is Jesus’ declaration that God the Father reveals to Peter the truth of Jesus’ identity. It is not Peter’s own perspicacity or anyone else’s that allows him to know who Jesus is. For this reason Jesus sees him the one chosen from above to lead the incipient church after his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven.

We followers of Christ are not necessarily the brightest or the strongest people. Certainly there are many exceptions but most of us are rather ordinary in makeup. Yet like John Vianney and the apostle Peter God has graced us with a special calling. We are to make Jesus known in the world by our love for one another and our efforts to create a just society.

Homilette for Thursday, August 7, 2008

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Matthew 16:13-23)

We have heard the central question of this gospel passage many times. Perhaps we remember Peter’s answer as if it were our telephone number. But can we appreciate its implications? “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus asks. Of course, he is talking about himself, the Son of Man; that is, the human who does God’s work. The question asks, “What more is Jesus?” Peter gives the answer that we all know. He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now what does this mean?

Peter thinks that being the son of God, Jesus will not have to suffer. Like the son of a king will never be served a lousy meal, Jesus -- in Peter’s mind -- will never suffer at human hands. Perhaps we, like Peter, cringe at the thought of God’s son undergoing one of the cruelest forms of execution in history! But Jesus must suffer or he would not be doing God’s work. Through Jesus’ suffering God extends to every human the offer of salvation.

Humans experience salvation by recognizing Jesus as the one who died for them. This recognition is not a simple “I believe” if asked about Christ. No, it entails suffering with Jesus when we are called to it as all humans are and no human likes. But now we can accept suffering calmly. It is something like primitive humans’ controlling fire. For a long time, humans reeled from fire’s intensity and feared its power. But then they saw that they might use it for cooking, farming, and keeping warm. We do not look for suffering and pray that the suffering that comes our way is not beyond our strength. But we accept it knowing that endured in solidarity with Jesus, it gives rise to our salvation.