Getting Behind the Messiah (24th OT)
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September 12, 2018Winter can be depressing.
Depending on where you live in the country, you may not see the sun for two or three months. The temperature can be bonechillingly cold, and there is little sign of life except for the brave neighbors shoveling their driveways. The days are short and dark, the trees are lifeless, and we don’t hear children playing outside or birds chirping. It can seem very desolate. Carrying our cross is often a “winter” for our soul. It can be challenging, lonely, and may seem neverending. The hope that we have in Christ is like hoping for the springtime. We carry our cross and die to ourselves so that we can experience the Resurrection with him. Just as flowers bud and blossom again, the trees grow leaves, and the sun grows warmer in the springtime, so too do our souls become nourished and refreshed when we give ourselves entirely to Christ. But, in order to experience this beautiful springtime, we must first go through the trial of winter.
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First Reading ReflectionThe Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong? (Isaiah 50:5-9a)
This passage from the second half of Isaiah is the third of the four Servant Songs. The servant of the Lord depicted in these songs points forward to Christ, who will suffer for the sins of the people. In this third song, we ϐind the servant engaging in three speciϐic heroic actions, which lead to one concrete result. First, he speaks the Lord’s word to encourage others who are “weary” (Isaiah 50:4), which corresponds to Jesus’s proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Second, he listens to the Lord and submits to his will in humble obedience, as we see Jesus do in the Garden of Gethsemane (see Luke 22:42). Third, the Servant endures undeserved suffering— beating, beard plucking, insults, and spitting—which point forward to Jesus’s suffering during his trial, scourging, and cruciϐixion. In all of these difϐiculties, however, the servant does not lose heart. He looks to God as his “help” (Isaiah 50:9) and believes that the Lord will vindicate his honor after the time of suffering is ended. The vindication of the servant corresponds to Jesus’s Resurrection from the dead, which demonstrates that eternal life is stronger than death. In fact, through death, Christ has conquered death. In order for us to be truly Christian, we must imitate the life of the Suffering Servant. Like him, we must listen to the Lord, submitting ourselves to him in complete obedience. As part of our obedience, we must be willing to undergo suffering for the sake of the Gospel, while we imitate Jesus’s preaching by sharing the Good News with other people. If we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, then we too will share in his victory and hopefully experience the Resurrection of the dead..
Second Reading Reflection
Faith, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:14-18)
Religion can easily become a mere abstraction. We see this phenomenon in contemporary notions of those who are “spiritual but not religious” or in self-soothing meditation. It is tempting to think of Christianity as a form of therapy, in which our personal needs are met by “feel good” theology. In these ways and many others, faith remains merely at the emotive level, without actually inϐluencing my life or my actions. St. James is warning us against this type of belief in his letter. He is likely trying to correct bad interpretations of Saint Paul’s teachings on faith and works. Paul focuses on salvation by faith rather than by observing the ritual prescriptions of the Law of Moses, which many Jews regarded as necessary for salvation. Paul shows that God wanted the Gentiles, who do not observe circumcision, kosher eating, and other rituals to be part of his new covenant family in Christ. Yet some people misunderstood Paul and thought that he wasn’t concerned about works as much as faith. James teaches us that we must act on our faith, not just intellectually assent to our faith. Believ- ing in Jesus is a life-transforming event, which is meant to impact every area of our lives. Nevertheless, we don’t simply “earn” a ticket to Heaven through good behavior. Jesus is the one who saves us, but we must cooperate with his grace, repent of our sins, and live with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity..
Gospel Reflection
Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:27-35)
Many people acknowledge Jesus as a great religious teacher but do not actually follow his teachings. Today’s Gospel drives home the fact that mere intellectual recognition of Jesus is not enough. He asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). After they give him a report, he then asks them personally, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 29). The point is that we cannot acknowledge Jesus’s existence but then not make any changes to our lives. Rather, we must be baptized in the name of the Lord and then surrender our entire lives to him, rejecting our bad habits. And, if we were baptized as infants, we must ask for an increase in the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity as we journey toward the heavenly fatherland. Saint Peter sets the example for us by publicly proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, but he fails to accept the whole mission. When Jesus predicts his own Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Peter denies that it will happen, showing his own lack of faith in Christ’s redemptive mission. In turn, Jesus rebukes Peter as “Satan” for failing to think like God thinks. Jesus’s words recall the words of Isaiah: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 56:8). Our thinking can be very limited, yet we must have faith in Christ’s Paschal Mystery. In fact, suffering and death are at the heart of Christ’s mission as the Messiah, and the same will be true for us as we follow him. In order to be real disciples of Christ, we must follow Jesus on the road to Mt. Calvary: deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow him. The only way to save your life is to lose it (see v. 35) and the only path to resurrection is through suffering and death..
DISCUSSION:
How do you put your faith into practice? Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
Take some time to answer this question as Jesus asks you - who do YOU say that he is?
How do you understand Jesus, and how would you describe this understanding to others?DIGGING DEEPER:
Following Jesus“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23). These words denote the radiality of a choice that does not allow for hesitation or second thoughts. It is a demanding requirement that unsettled even the disciples and that, throughout the ages, has held back many men and women from following Christ. But precisely this radiality has also produced admirable examples of sanctity and martyrdom that strengthened and confi rmed the way of the Church. Even today these words are regarded as a stumbling block and folly (cf. 1 Cor 1: 22-25). Yet they must be faced, because the path outlined by God for his Son is the path to be undertaken by the disciple who has decided to follow Jesus. There are not two paths, but only one: the one trodden by the Master. The disciple cannot invent a different way. (Pope Saint John Paul II, “Message for 16th WYD, 3)
Reflections reprinted with permission from Opening the Word at Formed.org .
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