TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
15 SEPTEMBER 2024
Ever since
leaving the Easter Season and returning to Ordinary Time, we have been
listening to the Gospel according to Saint Mark. He has been telling us about the early
ministry of Jesus in Galilee. In his
hometown of Nazareth, Jesus had read from the Prophet Isaiah and announced that
he was the promised and long-awaited Messiah.
Even though the locals could not believe in him, he called others who
left everything and became his disciples. They heard his teaching and witnessed his
miracles to verify his identity. He then
chose twelve of them and sent them in pairs on a mission. They accomplished miracles in his name and
returned in triumph. As their faith in
him deepened, the opposition to him increased.
The religious leaders were beginning to plot against him and exploring
ways to eliminate him.
Today,
Jesus leads his disciples to Caesarea Philippi, an area named for a local
governor and his patron, Caesar. They
gather near the shrine dedicated to Pan, the pagan god of agricultural growth
and fertility. He asks his disciples to
tell him the gossip about his identity.
They respond that some claim that he is John the Baptist. Others claim that he is Elijah or one of the
prophets. Then he asks the key question:
“Who do you say that I am?” Peter
responds with the correct answer: “You are the Christ.”
Then he
tells them not to tell anyone, because he needs to clarify his role as the
Messiah. He will not be a messiah who defeats the Romans. He confirms that the elders, the chief
priests, and the scribes will win the battle and have him executed. He will be the suffering servant who will
defeat the power of sin and death by entering into death itself. Peter takes him aside and rebukes him,
because Peter cannot imagine that his trusted friend and mentor would have to
undergo such a horrible fate. Jesus
strongly rebukes him and calls him “Satan,” the one who tempted him in the
desert to depart from the will of his Father.
Jesus then tells them that if they want to be his authentic followers,
they must accept the same fate. They
have accepted the gift of faith that he has offered. Now, they must live that faith by
surrendering themselves to the incredible love that Jesus will embrace. As authentic followers, they too must deny
themselves and take up the cross of putting others and needs of others
first. They had not earned the gift of
faith. They had received it feely and
without pay. Now, they must embrace the
implications of living that faith and spreading it to others.
That is
exactly what Saint James is saying in the second reading. He acknowledges that faith is a free and
unearned gift. Like the other disciples
of Jesus Christ, he is grateful for that gift and has openly accepted it. But then he spells out the implications of
living that faith. An authentic faith in
Jesus Christ involves embracing the cross and putting the needs of others
first. He gives a specific example. If a disciple sees a brother or sister who
has no clothing and no food and simply wishes them well, then that disciple is
not carrying a cross or entering into self-denial. Saint James points out that this faith is
dead without the good works that would allow them to provide clothing and food
to the poor person.
This is the
message for every one of us, who are disciples of Jesus Christ. Like Peter, we
know that we are not following the teachings of a great human leader or
prophet. We are disciples of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who has defeated the power of sin and death by
embracing his cross and giving his life completely to us. When we are dismissed from this Mass, we are
challenged to display our faith in very definite works of mercy and compassion. Peter may have balked at first. But he will eventually understand and embrace
the dying of Jesus Christ and to share in his rising. He challenges us to do the same.
