Who Do You Say That I Am? - 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, B
Why would I want to be a priest in today’s society? This is a question I’ve been asked a few
times, and indeed, in a society that often doesn’t recognize God’s presence, it
seems at least imprudent for me and my brothers to give up our whole lives. And with everything that’s been revealed in
the Church recently, there’s also a lot of anger against priests overall. It can be just like the first reading from
Isaiah, “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my
beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” So why am I doing this?
I think we can even take the question one step further: why would
we want to be Catholic in today’s society?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes a startling claim, “Whoever wishes to
come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” This isn’t exactly a flattering picture of
faith; in fact, those on the outside are confused or even outraged at why we
would follow the Church’s seemingly harsh and unnatural commandments and submit
ourselves to this. Can the Church really
be that good when we’re giving up so much?
But I think these questions can be answered by another
question in today’s Gospel, when Jesus asks his apostles, “But who do you say
that I am?” He asks this to all of us;
this is the core question of our faith.
All throughout the Gospels, Jesus is revealing himself through preaching
and miracles, and eventually his apostles catch on that he is much more than a
mere man. So today, Peter answers, “You are the Christ,” and Jesus
affirms this. But then Jesus immediately
shows that this journey isn’t easy; in fact, for him, it leads to suffering,
rejection, and betrayal. The Gospel is
not meant to be comfortable - it leads to the cross.
The question of “Who do you say that I am?” appears in all
of our lives, and I’ve faced it many times and will certainly be reminded of it
many times more. I mentioned last week
how I encountered Christ on different retreats I went on in high school. During these times, I could hear testimonies
from retreat leaders about how Christ affected their lives, and then I could
enter into prayer myself to converse with the Lord, particularly through the
Scriptures. I also formed great
friendships that strengthened my faith; for a couple of years, some friends and
I would meet weekly to read the Bible, talk about questions we had, share what
was going on in our lives, and pray together.
Through all of this, I began to sense the Lord calling me to consider
the possibility of priesthood.
At first, I was very afraid of this; I didn’t want to give
up having a wife and children, say the same words every day in Mass, which
often appeared boring, and be fully dependent on following a bishop. Most of all, I was scared of failure, scared
of messing up, losing my faith, or falling into scandal. But the Lord was persistent, and eventually,
I found myself being open to the idea of seminary, and I visited Conception
Seminary in April of my junior year.
This question was on my mind: is the Lord calling me to enter seminary
right after high school, or should I attend a regular college first? Every time I asked others this question
during that seminary visit, the response was always, “If you sense the Lord
calling you, don’t be afraid to follow!”
It all culminated in a moment during that following summer, in which,
through the hymn, “You are Mine,” I heard the Lord say to me, “Do not be
afraid; I am with you, and you are mine.”
I could then say a full yes to the Lord, bringing about tears of joy and
peace, and I entered seminary after high school, and here I am now!
So every time I’ve faced doubts and fears, I’ve returned to
the question, “Who is Jesus?” If he is
in fact the Son of the living God, has redeemed the world, established his
Church, and created me for a purpose, then I have nothing to fear. What he wants for me will bring my true
fulfillment, and I want that as well. And
there’s so much evidence for this: the Church’s vast tradition, the many
saints, the miracles that continue to happen, and our own experience of prayer
and community. The first reading from
Isaiah continues, “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced. He is near who upholds my right.” And what Jesus says in the Gospel is that we
never carry the cross on our own; we are always with him.
In fact, Jesus draws us together as a community. One consoling fact about this Gospel passage
is that Jesus does not quiz all of the apostles individually about who he is. Maybe some of them aren’t at the point of
declaring Jesus as the Christ, or maybe some have doubts. But when one member of the community
proclaims the truth, all of the members receive grace. When we come here on Sunday, maybe we all
aren’t in the same place when it comes to faith, or maybe it’s just been a
rough week and you’re going through some doubts and hurts, but when we come
together and proclaim the truth, we pick up our cross with Jesus and follow him
into glory. That’s what I experienced
with my friends as we prayed together in high school, and I’m blessed to still
have many friends who I know I can trust in and can assist me when I’m
hurting.
Here at the altar is the perfect place to bring all of our
questions and sufferings. And this is
something that continues into our week.
If we are called to carry our cross daily, we can daily receive the
strength and love we need from the One who is always with us. We do this in daily prayer, maybe 5-10
minutes a day, and we do so by sharing our faith with each other through
conversation and service to our community.
So why am I becoming a priest, or why are we Catholic? Because Jesus reveals Himself to all of us as
the Son of God, desiring to bring us to His Father in the love of the Holy
Spirit. He is who He says He is, and we
are who He says we are – beloved children of the Father. So we pray, “Jesus, we thank you for being
with us, even in our doubts and sufferings.
May we follow you together, knowing that you uphold us and strengthen us
through your cross, for you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Comments
Post a Comment