Homily of 22nd Sunday Year A

 

CHRISTIAN LIFE: A CALL TO SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT OF EVIL      

    

First Reading: Jeremiah 20: 7-9

Psalm 62 (63)

Second reading: Romans 12: 1-2

Gospel: Matthew 16: 21-27

Dearest friends, the readings of this Sunday remind us that Christians are called to live their lives in a way that is different from those of non-believers. The Christian life demands honesty, willingness to suffer for the sake of Christ, generosity, and readiness to obey and do the will of God, even when this life will bring us persecutions. Today’s readings explain how we can accomplish this mission. They also tell us that suffering is an integral part of our Christian life, our road to glory; there is no crown without a cross.

In the first reading, the church showed us the painful cry of the prophet Jeremiah, a cry which showed the suffering he encountered because of his obedience to the will of God. Jeremiah was chosen by God to preach the good news to his people. This vocation brought him in confrontation with those that did not want God and did not want to hear about God. They persecuted Jeremiah and, on several occasions, wanted to kill him. But one remarkable thing was that despite the persecutions he received, Jeremiah continued proclaiming the message of God. He bravely faced confrontations from the people.

The story of Jeremiah has a lesson for us. We have been called from baptism and given a vocation to preach Christ with words and the way we live our lives. This vocation means that we must condemn what is bad in the lives of our friends, in the family and the society. It means we should not keep quiet in the face of evil. As Christians, we should not be afraid to say the truth and to stand for the truth. We should not be afraid to proclaim Christ with words and actions. If we are faithful to this work, many people will laugh at us, they will hate us, and they will attack us. With the experience of Jeremiah, the church is telling us not to give up following God when people laugh at us, when they criticize us and when they persecute us. There is no Christianity without a cross.

In the second reading, Saint Paul gives us yet another lesson on how Christians should live their lives, especially in our present world. Paul advised the Christians that they must live their Christian lives in ways that differ both from the lives of Jews and the pagans. To do this, they must explicitly reject the behaviour of the world around them. He said, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God… do not model your lives according to the standard of this world.” Dear friends, these beautiful words are addressed to us as well. We live in a world where sin and impurity are promoted as beautiful lifestyle by the media and many governments. We are living in a world where sinners are promoted as celebrities. We are living in a world where evil, sins, and despicable lifestyles are regarded as normal things. Dear friends, Saint Paul is saying that, as Christians, we should not model our lives according to these models of the world that promote immoral life, that celebrate immorality as normal thing, that see God and his teachings as outdated, that set sin as a standard for the people. Every Christian should reject sin at all costs. We are called to swim against the current of our time, because the current of our time is against the teachings of God.

In a world that is full of sin and longing for sinful things, the Psalm of today tells us “O God, You are my God Whom I seek; for You my flesh pines and my soul thirsts, like the earth parched, lifeless and without water… My soul clings fast to You.” Our souls should long and thirst for God, not for sins.

The response which Jesus gave to Peter in the gospel reading is a lesson for us. He said, “get behind me Satan.” This shows us that whoever tries to divert our attention from fulfilling the will of God has assumed the position of Satan and should be avoided like a Satan. Anyone whose presence in will distract us from the path of Holy life, should be avoided.

After correcting Peter, Jesus announced three conditions of Christian discipleship. They are: “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”  Self-denial means abandoning our will in order to take up the will of God; evicting selfish thoughts, desires and tendencies from our hearts and letting God fill our hearts with Himself. It also means being cleansed of all evil habits, enthroning God in our hearts, and sharing Him with others. Carrying the cross and following Jesus means suffering for the sake of Christ. This includes: accepting suffering, insults and pain that will come to us for preaching Christ to our friends, and for living a life that is contrary to that of our friends for the sake of Christ; accepting pain that will come to us for serving others for the sake of Christ; accepting insults that we will receive from being honest for the sake of Christ and from saying ‘No’ to sin for the sake of Christ. It means being foolish or appearing foolish before our friends for the sake of Christ.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Roma)