[Isaiah 50:5-9; Psalm 114; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35]
When I was a young boy, I was struck deeply by the story of St Damien. If you remember, St Damien was a Catholic priest who took the Good News to the Hawaiian islands and whilst there, felt called to serve the desperately sick islanders, eventually making the decision to travel across to Molokoi which had been nicknamed Devil’s Island; which is where they sent those diagnosed with leprosy. St Damien travelled there knowing he could never come back. St Damien contracted leprosy and died from it after suffering for 4 years. As a child, I was struck by the selflessness of St Damien. He was a man who trusted completely in God and through his faith in God, decided to serve those who were sick and dying; those whom the rest of society had completely rejected and discarded to save their own skins.
St Damien is the type of man who St James could have given as an example of someone who proved they had faith by the good works they carried out. St James is telling us that we can claim to have faith as much as we want, but unless we put our faith into action and serve those in need, then our faith is as strong as a paper bag, which as we know can become useless when exposed to water, is destroyed if exposed to flame and can be popped if over inflated. A good way for us to put our faith into action is by supporting the warm spaces initiative which starts this Wednesday in St Bede’s, providing a welcome for those who need shelter from the autumn and winter weather.
In the Gospel this week, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and He knows what he must do. In a way, Jesus is checking how His teaching has affected the apostles, so he asks them “who do (other) people say I am?” Jesus hears the predictable replies, ‘some say John the Baptist, or Elijah or one of the other prophets’; Jesus then asks the apostles – “But you, who do you say that I am?” Peter said that Jesus is the Christ. In Mark’s Gospel there is no statement here about Peter being given Divine inspiration or being told he is the rock. In Mark’s Gospel they are told to keep this to themselves.
If we listen carefully to the language used, we can hear that the initial question is asking; what they have heard others say, the second question is asking ‘who do you say that I am?’ We could study every piece ever written about Jesus and find out what other people have to say about Him, but at the end of the day Jesus still comes back and asks us “Who do you say that I am?” This is a very personal question and requires a very personal and honest response. A response that if we are really looking to follow Jesus, will require us to enter into a truly personal relationship with Him. Peter was only able to recognise Jesus as the Christ because he got to know Jesus up close and personal. It was this relationship that allowed the Holy Spirit to inspire Peter, to give him wisdom, courage and the leadership skills which would be essential after Jesus ascended to His Father.
Jesus is calling on us to follow him. He goes on to tell the apostles that he is destined to suffer, die and rise again, something, which at the time was too much for Peter to accept. Peter, who had just recognised Jesus as the Christ was immediately rebuked. The apostles’ understanding at that time would have been that the Christ would be a mighty king who would elevate Israel above all other nations. Jesus was teaching them that God had a different idea of the Christ and that God’s way was for the Christ to conquer something that no man could ever do. Jesus’ victory is over death. Death has no power over Jesus. Jesus fulfilled His destiny and calls on us to fulfil ours. Jesus obeyed the will of His Father and calls upon us to follow Him.
When Jesus asks us, “who do you say that I am? How do we respond?
My response is that I believe Jesus is Our Saviour, the Son of God and to commit to trying harder to see those in need in front of me. This has been a real challenge for me, sometimes it is so easy to go around trying to get the things done that I need to get done, that I walk past those in need. These are the times when I may be walking past Jesus, when I could be accused of not feeding the hungry. These are the times when I need to press pause on my busyness and give these brothers and sisters some of the time which God has given me.
Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We all have different crosses to bear in this world; we are all called to bear those crosses and to help those around us who are struggling. We can all be Simon of Cyrene to someone else, just like we all may need someone else to help us at some stage too. Being a Christian doesn’t mean trying to carry our cross alone, sometimes we need to be gracious enough to accept help, just like Jesus accepted the help of Simon (on the road to the crucifixion) to fulfil his destiny.
Further Reading
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
CCC 713-716: the path of the Messiah traced out in the “Servant Songs”
CCC 440, 571-572, 601: Jesus suffered and died for our salvation
CCC 618: our participation in Christ’s sacrifice
CCC 2044-2046: good works manifest faith
Please keep in your prayers this week
- The sick and housebound, those who are dying and those who are grieving.
- Father Jean-Patrice that he makes a full recovery.
- The families starting Baptism Preparation this Sunday at St Bede’s.
- The success of the Warm Spaces initiative, which starts at St Bede’s this Wednesday [18th]
- The success of the forthcoming Christians Against Poverty [CAP] money coaching programme, in the pastoral area.[1]
- Those excluded from society
Deacon Tony
14th September 2024