Who am I to You? The Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

Who am I to You?

The Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

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August 23, 2020

Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20

 

 

The question Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” is the matter at the heart of our faith, and like Peter, our response will dictate how we show our belief. We are gathered here because Jesus is central to our lives, and we each meet Jesus in different ways. How did Peter know him? as a Galilean carpenter, as an enlightened preacher and teacher, as a wise thinker who reflected upon the moral dilemmas of the day, as an observant Jew who sometimes challenged the status quo, as a man who loved the God of their ancestors, as one who ate and drank with them and told stories, but his response to Jesus was more than all that: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

As we see Jesus than more than all that he has done for us; he sees us as more than all we have done as well. This is the fruit of the Spiritual Exercises. The most intense prayers of the Exercises have us observing Jesus. That’s it. We just watch and take notes. We observe how and with whom he speaks. We pay attention to the tone of his voice, his facial gestures, his body language, and we look for the emotion that he conveys during his interactions. We notice what he does and does not do. We pay attention to the style of the man for he always chooses the high road. The miracles and healings are important, but the greater importance are the conversations we have with him to unpack why he did what he did.

 

Jesus is interested in how our friendship matures, which means that the choice to go deeper is squarely with us. As we learn more fully who Jesus is, we have to decide whether to invest more fully into it. He invites and asks us what we can do. That’s it. He does not pressure us to go deeper. He reveals and then asks us to respond. Some people need to keep it at a superficial level. It is all they can do. People respond to varying degrees, and we do enough self-reflection to figure out how far we can go. We’ve all had human friendships that we wished could have evolved, but for other reasons, they remained only at a certain point. With reason, he will go as deep as we allow. If we agree to follow, we will discover deeper realities, and if we say yes, we are given a place of privilege at the Cross. The Cross is where we learn to give compassion and consolation. It is the formative aspect of our response as disciples.

 

When we behold the human enterprise of the life of Jesus, we see that he is God. What happens though when Jesus beholds us? What does he see? He sees so much more than the things we have said or done. He sees us in our workplace, in our strivings, in our prayers, in the kind words we have uttered, in the generosity we’ve given to others. He is honored when he sees us because we have stood by him and stood by those who are also important to him. The question is both, “Who do you say that I am and let me tell you who are you are me.” In this dynamism of affection, we form greater bonds of friendship and mystery, and through it all, we see God more clearly.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

First Reading:

Monday: (Isaiah 22) I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority.

 

Tuesday: (Revelation 21) The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

 

Wednesday: (2 Thessalonians 2) We ask you, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way.

 

Thursday: (2 Thessalonians 3) For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.

 

Friday (1 Corinthians 1) I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Saturday (1 Corinthians 1) Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

 

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 16) And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

 

Tuesday: (John 1) Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

 

Wednesday (Matthew 23) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”

 

Thursday (Matthew 23) You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.

 

Friday (Matthew 24) Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.

 

Saturday (Matthew 25) Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

 

Saints of the Week

 

August 23: Rose of Lima (1586-1617) was the first canonized saint of the New World. She had Spanish immigrant parents in Lima. Rose joined the Dominicans and lived in her parents' garden to support them while she took care of the sick and the poor. As a girl, she had many mystical experiences as she practiced an austere life. She also had many periods of darkness and desolation.

 

August 24: Bartholomew (First Century), according to the Acts of the Apostles, is listed as one of the Twelve Disciples though no one for sure knows who he is. Some associate him with Philip, though other Gospel accounts contradict this point. John's Gospel refers to him as Nathaniel - a Israelite without guile.

 

August 25: Louis of France (1214-1270) became king at age 12, but did not take over leadership until ten years later. He had eleven children with his wife, Marguerite, and his kingship reigned for 44 years. His rule ushered in a longstanding peace and prosperity for the nation.  He is held up as a paragon of medieval Christian kings.

 

August 25: Joseph Calasanz, priest (1556-1648), was a Spaniard who studied canon law and theology. He resigned his post as diocesan vicar-general to go to Rome to live as a pilgrim and serve the sick and the dying. He used his inheritance to set up free schools for poor families with children. He founded an order to administer the schools, but dissension and power struggles led to its dissolution.

 

August 27: Monica (332-387) was born a Christian in North Africa and was married to a non-Christian, Patricius, with whom she had three children, the most famous being Augustine. Her husband became a Christian at her urging and she prayed for Augustine's conversion as well from his newly adopted Manichaeism. Monica met Augustine in Milan where he was baptized by Bishop Ambrose. She died on the return trip as her work was complete.

 

August 28: Augustine, bishop and doctor (354-430),  was the author of his Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, and The City of God, which described the life of faith in relation to the life of the temporal world. Many other writings, sermons, and treatises earned him the title Doctor of the church. In his formative years, he followed Mani, a Persian prophet who tried to explain the problem of evil in the world. His mother’s prayers and Ambrose’s preaching helped him convert to Christianity. Baptized in 387, Monica died a year later. He was ordained and five years later named bishop of Hippo and defended the church against three major heresies: Manichaeism, Donatism, and Pelagianism.

 

August 29: The Martyrdom of John the Baptist recalls the sad events of John's beheading by Herod the tetrarch when John called him out for his incestuous and adulterous marriage to Herodias, who was his niece and brother's wife. At a birthday party, Herodias' daughter Salome danced well earning the favor of Herod who told her he would give her almost anything she wanted.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

·      Aug. 23, 1558: In the First General Congregation, the question was discussed about the General's office being triennial, and the introduction of Choir, as proposed by Pope Paul IV, and it was decreed that the Constitutions ought to remain unaltered.

·      Aug. 24, 1544: Peter Faber arrived in Lisbon.

·      Aug. 25, 1666: At Beijing, the death of Fr. John Adam Schall. By his profound knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, he attained such fame that the Emperor entrusted to him the reform of the Chinese calendar.

·      Aug. 26, 1562: The return of Fr. Diego Laynez from France to Trent, the Fathers of the Council desiring to hear him speak on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

·      Aug. 27, 1679: The martyrdom at Usk, England, of St. David Lewis, apostle to the poor in his native Wales for three decades before he was caught and hanged.

·      Aug. 28, 1628: The martyrdom in Lancashire, England, of St. Edmund Arrowsmith.

·      Aug. 29, 1541: At Rome the death of Fr. John Codure, a Savoyard, one of the first 10 companions of St. Ignatius.