At a glance, the readings today dealt with religious leadership; a sacred trust in both ancient Israel and early Christianity that played a significant role in the evolution of our Church, which stands out as the oldest institution in the world, having survived 2000 years in the face of persecution, blessed along the way with good leaders and bad ones.
What motivates us to belong to the Catholic Church? For some people, being Catholic was an expectation of the time and place in which they lived. In some societies, one had to be Catholic in order to get ahead, much less survive. In our neck of the woods, being Catholic is a choice most of us freely make but would we if our lives were on the line?
“Oh, that couldn’t happen here,” might be your thought but lets not be so smug. Just two weeks ago, the Archbishop of Mosul in Northern Iraq wrote, “Our sufferings today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will suffer also in the near future. I lost my diocese. The physical setting of my apostolate has been occupied by Islamic radicals who want us converted or dead. But my community is still alive.
“Please try to understand us… You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed to your home.”
That notion at the moment seems so far fetched but who ever thought that we would witness the brutal beheading of a Catholic journalist this past week? The photo of Jim Foley kneeling in the sand revealed a man who faced his fate with courage. While imprisoned, he passed the time praying the rosary. He wasn’t about to surrender what he valued for he knew who Jesus was.
One night Charles Lamb, a British author who lived two centuries ago, and his guests were chatting about WilliamShakespeare over Madeira port and illegal Cuban cigars. “Supposing,” someone asked Lamb, “Shakespeare were to stroll into our dining room at this moment.” The essayist replied, “We would raise a glass of port to the great man.” “Supposing,” asked another, “Jesus were to come here.” Lamb answered, “We would get down on our knees.”
There is the big difference between the Man from Nazareth and other great people you can think of. Jesus the Christ is God and all others, no matter what their deeds were, are just actors on the world stage for a brief time.
When today’s Gospel opens, Jesus was in Caesarea Philippi. The sand in his clock was running out. A barbaric cross awaited Him. Although he was aware of his divinity, were his followers equally aware? He had to know whether they had any inkling whom they had been traveling with. The right answer would make His day. The wrong answer meant that three years of hard work would go down the drain.
So, Jesus put the question to them that went to the heart of the matter, “Who do you say that I am?” Imagine how he felt when Peter said that he was “the Son of the living God.”
To each of the baptized, Jesus whispers the same question. “But who do you say that I am?” In their artistic works, many artists have rendered an answer. Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Mel Gibson have all given their answers to Jesus’ searing question. Now it is our turn.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean memorizing the Apostles’ Creed or the lines of our catechism. It means knowing our Savior. That comes through prayer. Archbishop OscarRomero of El Salvador said eloquently, “Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed or laws to be obeyed. Rather, Christianity is a person. Christianity is Christ.”
If we bypass his question, we trivialize Jesus’ challenge. Are you in fact a follower of Jesus Christ or just a distant admirer? Your life demonstrates your answer to that question. The way we live our lives and our morality flows from our faith. Do you see Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God or simply another great person in history who doesn’t really shape the values by which you actually live out your lives?
With that profound question, Jesus calls us to face exactly what we believe in and hold sacred. That question, “Who do you say that I am?” goes to the very heart of who we are, what we believe and value, how we see ourselves in relationship to others and the world. Christ calls us to decide whether we believe enough in the gospel of selfless love to change our lifestyles and conduct, and to become intentional about seeking such love regardless of the impact on our own interests and well being.
Our love for family and friends, our dedication to the cause of what is right and just, our taking the first step toward reconciliation and forgiveness, our simplest acts of kindness and generosity declare most definitely and courageously our belief in Jesus as revealed to us in the gospel as the Messiah and the Christ with whom we want to spend eternity no matter what the cost may be.