TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
14 AUGUST 2016
The
author of the Letter to the Hebrews compares the life of a disciple of Jesus
Christ to running a marathon. Unlike
sprinters, marathoners train for the long haul.
If you have ever run a marathon, or know someone who has, you understand
he difficulties. You know the physical
pain, the spiritual stamina, and the determination to keep your eyes focused on
the finish line. You also know the importance of crowds of people cheering you
on, offering water and healthy snacks, and family and friends waiting at the
finish line. The Letter to the Hebrews
points out that Jesus had taken on human flesh and has run that marathon,
enduring a shameful death and crossing the finish line. The saints form that great crowd of witnesses
who had also run the race. Not only do
they cheer us on, but they also intercede for us and provide the support we
need when we encounter the difficulties of running our marathon as disciples.
Jesus does
not mince words when he warns that there will be costs in our marathon of
discipleship. He speaks in the tradition
of the prophets who were hated for speaking the truth. The prophet Jeremiah preceded Jesus by 600
years and had spoken the truth in the name of God, telling the king that he
should surrender to the Babylonian army.
Jeremiah had argued that the real cause of the sufferings of his people
were the result of their infidelity to the Covenant. However, the king regarded Jeremiah as a
traitor and accused him of demoralizing the army and the citizens of
Jerusalem. So, he threw Jeremiah into a
cistern, where he would have died if a foreigner had not become part of a cloud
of witnesses to save his life.
Jesus not
only speaks the truth in the name of God.
He is the Incarnate Word of God.
As he makes his way on his marathon journey toward Jerusalem, he has
been faithful to the mission which the Father had given him when his cousin
John had baptized him in the Jordan River.
In speaking the truth about God’s Kingdom in both word and action, he
has proclaimed a message of radical peace.
But in order for that peace to take root, whatever false peace of the
culture remained had to be burned away.
Jesus knows that he will be betrayed in Jerusalem, that he will undergo
horrible suffering, and that he will die in complete shame on the horrible tool
which the Romans used for execution. He
also warns his followers that they too will be opposed if they ran the same
marathon. By the time Saint Luke had
written this Gospel, many Christians were already experiencing the fire of
division. There were divisions in
families, especially when disciples remained faithful to the marathon into
which they had been baptized.
The same is
true for us. If we are faithful to the
authentic peace proclaimed by Jesus Christ in running our marathon of
discipleship, we will sooner or later encounter the fire of division,
especially if we have the courage to confront the false peace promised by our
culture. We will be burned if we
proclaim that life is a precious gift of God to be respected from conception to
natural death, because we will defy the false peace of our culture that
individuals matter only when they can produce something. If we insist on being honest and fair in
business, we will be burned by competitors who see nothing wrong with
cheating. If we regard all our
possessions as gifts from God that can be shared generously with those in need,
then we will be burned by the consumerism that always looks for bargains
instead of ways to be generous.
In four
months, we will sing Christmas Carols announcing the birth of the Prince of
Peace. On his marathon journey to
Jerusalem, Jesus remains the Prince of Peace.
But he also teaches that embracing his authentic peace involves the
burning away of false claims to peace.
He encourages us to endure that fire and keep our eyes on the finish
line. We can do it, because there is a
huge crowd of witnesses cheering us on.
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