19 June. Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus predicts his impending passion and death. Only by taking up the cross can disciples follow him. We must learn to accept the crosses that come our way.

1st Reading: Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1

Guided by a new spirit, people will revere the One they have killed

The Lord says this, “And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”

Second Reading: Galatians 3:26-29

“Neither slave or free, male or female,” the equal dignity of all the baptised

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Gospel: Luke 9:18-24

Jesus warns that he will be rejected, and his fate will be shared by his followers

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

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Who do you think I am?

One day, somewhere in the foothills of Mount Hermon, where Jesus had brought his disciples for a quiet time, he asked them straight out, “Who are people saying that I am?” It is the most crucial moment in the ministry of Jesus. Luke sets the episode in a period of stillness and reflection, away from the hectic activity prior to it. This episode marks a turning point in Christ’s mission, for at its end we are told, “As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, he fixed his face firmly to go to Jerusalem.”

Heading for Jerusalem must have cost Jesus a real inner struggle. Was he apprehensive about what his fate was to be in Jerusalem? All our Gospels say how well he knew he was going to meet his death there at the hands of his enemies. Or was he happy with what he had achieved so far, with the understanding of himself and his mission his disciples had gained?

As their first answer to, “Who do people say that I am?,” his disciples list some of the popular rumours circulating about him, that he was John the Baptist restored to life, or a reincarnate Elijah, one of the greatest prophets in Jewish history. Then came an awkward silence when he put the harder question, “Who do YOU say that I am?” It is never enough to know what other people see in Jesus. Christianity is not just knowing about Jesus; its core consists in knowing Jesus personally, and this in a developing way. In other words, knowing Christ comes ultimately from a person-to-person experience of his living presence, an experience that grows within the Christian community and is vital in sustaining it.

Peter’s answer to this question of who Jesus is the only one recorded, and it is interesting to examine the different reports of it in the three synoptic gospels. The oldest, Mark’s report, is simply, “You are the Christ.” The title Christ, Messiah, means “the anointed one,” a quality shared by kings, priests, and prophets, and Jesus was seen as combining all three. Luke’s gospel has the slightly longer answer, “You are the Christ of God,” which to his Gentile-Christian readers helped to explain that Jesus was on a God-given mission . The report in Matthew, written later still, is the longest and most elaborated, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We cannot know exactly what Peter said on that occasion, but the shortest version “You are the Christ ,” is the most likely. The other two versions: “You are the Christ of God,” “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” could easily develope from that, as the evangelists reflected on the full significance of Jesus.

The four Gospels reflect the faith of the Christian communities out of which they grew. What we find in the period between the writing of Mark’s gospel and that of Matthew, is the growth in their understanding of Jesus. The active faith of the first Christian generations penetrated deeper and deeper into his identity. It was only after deep reflection on the sayings of Jesus, on the miracles he worked, and especially on his presence to them in the post-resurrection time, that they came to clearly believe in his divinity.

The later church continued to find meaningful answers to his question, “Who do you say that I am?” And Christ to this day continues to issue the same challenge to each believer. Writing about the faith to his young companion Timothy, St Paul declared, “I know whom I have believed,” not “I know what I have believed.” Essential Christianity is not captured in a list of truths. It means knowing a person, not a person of the remote past, but the person of Jesus Christ living within and among us, for individually and collectively we are called to be the temple of the risen glorified Son of God.

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Ending discrimination

People today are more interested in rights and freedoms and personal dignity than in a message about self-denial or taking up the cross. Yet today’s readings show us a nice balance between human dignity and equality for all and the need for self-sacrifice. Modern freedoms are welcome and too long delayed, but they bring attendant dangers when a culture of entitlement replaces one of responsibility.

Basing the homily on the Galatians text, one of the following could be developed:

(1) Each should know and rejoice in our own dignity as child of God. But each other person is as good as we are in the eyes of God, equally a brother or sister of Christ.

(2) The first duty of a Christian towards his neighbour is to give him his proper dignity as a child of God. Allow him or her to be what he or she is.

(3) Remember the one they pierced on the cross. That’s the Master we follow. And remember that he is pierced often today in the oppressed, the poverty-stricken, the sick, the neglected. I must seek for them the dignity I claim for myself.

What would YOU have said?

Today’s gospel poses the central question of our faith: “Who do you say that I am?” If we reply that Jesus is someone we are prepared to follow, he makes very clear what that will imply. Imagine, if you can, Jesus posing that same question to a group of intellectual theologians. The answer would go something like this: “You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being; the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our interpersonal relationships.” I could well imagine that Jesus’ reply would be: “WHAT?’!

“And you, who do you say that I am?” Jesus is a personal God, who asks personal questions. “Will you also go away?” “Do you love me more than these?” The question is addressed to each of us personally, and the answer must come from personally too. We will not find that answer in a book, but in the heart. If we are to follow him, we must join in his journey, as Peter did. We must take up the cross of daily living, faithful to his call, so that he can lead us to the fullness of life. If we follow him, we need not expect much in the way of earthly glory for our pains. Just as he was rejected and marginalised for refusing to conform to the standards of this world, whoever takes him seriously may expect a similar response.

The complete answer to the question is “You are my Saviour, my Lord and my God.” “You are Saviour in the room of my past; the Lord of the room of my future, and you are God in the room of today.” God is totally a God of now. “I am who am.” If he is Saviour, then I don’t have to be back in the past, with regret, guilt, or self-condemnation. If he is Lord, then I don’t have to live in the future, with worries, anxieties, and fear. I need have no fear of the future, if I believe that he holds the future. If he is God today, then “there is nothing impossible with God.”

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Answering that question

The question in the Gospel is a very contemporary one and has been for every generation of Christians since it was first posed. We all have to answer this question, at the very least, for ourselves. It is likely—I hope so, anyway—that our “answer” has evolved and grown over time. The second reading helps today, as well. Paul talks about the significance of being in Christ and names some of the consequences for real practical living. The passage is one of the most remembered from Galatians; still, it is always fresh and very inspiring.

A suggestion for preaching: it may be best simply to give your own personal account of your faith at this point in your life. It doesn’t have to be perfect or complete or even adequate—it just has to be yours and somehow life-giving. Some such personal “confession” would certainly engage the hearers and would help them to reflect and to put words on their own faith.

The audio version of the Gospel notes can be found here. [Kieran O’Mahony]

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How central is JESUS for us?

The first Christian generations preserved the memory of this Gospel episode as a story of vital importance. Their intuition was valid for Jesus’ followers today also. They knew that his Church ought to listen over and over again to the question that Jesus one day made to his disciples in the neighborhood of Caesaria Philippi: «And you, who do you say that I am?».

If we let our faith in Jesus be extinguished, we will lose our identity. Even if we try living with creative audacity the mission that Jesus entrusted to us, we won’t get it right; we won’t dare to confront the present moment, open to the newness of his Spirit; we’ll suffocate in our mediocrity. If we don’t turn to Jesus more faithfully, disorientation will go on paralyzing us; our grandiose words will keep on losing credibility. Jesus is the key, the foundation and the font of all that we are, say, and do. Who is Jesus for us Christians today?

We confess, as Peter does, that Jesus is «the Messiah of God», the one sent by the Father. That’s certain: God has loved the world so much that God has given us Jesus. Do we Christian know how to welcome, care for, enjoy and celebrate this great gift of God? Is Jesus the center of our celebrations, meetings and gatherings?

We confess him also as «Son of God». He can teach us to know God better, to trust more in the Father’s goodness, to listen more faithfully to God’s call to build a more fraternal and just world for all. Are we discovering in our communities the true face of God incarnate in Jesus? Do we know how to announce it and communicate it as great news for everyone?

We call Jesus «Saviour» because he has power to humanize our lives, free us as persons and lead human history toward its true and definitive salvation. Is this the hope that breathes among us? Is this the peace that spreads from our communities? We confess him as our only «Lord». We don’t want to have other lords or submit ourselves to false idols. But does Jesus really occupy the center of our lives? Do we give him absolute primacy in our communities? Do we put him above all and above everyone else? Are we of Jesus? Is he the one who breathes in us and makes us alive? The great task of Christians today is to join forces and open paths to reaffirm all the more Jesus’ centrality in his Church. Everything else flows from that. [J A Pagola]