WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is for this 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “Who Do You Say That I Am?”
It’s a question Jesus asks of his disciples in today’s
gospel.
It’s a question that pops up in many gospel stories as
well as in Paul’s letters.
It took the church 7 ecumenical councils and various
heresies to nail down some of the great understandings of who Christ is.
The Council of Nicea in 325 declared against Arius that
the Second Person didn’t start with the Birth of Christ. Christ is co-eternal
with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
The Council of Chalcedon of 451 declared definitively
that Christ has two natures: human and divine.
And as we heard in today’s second reading from Paul to the Galatians: we humans
are called into the divine - first by being baptized into Christ - becoming clothed in Christ - so we are no
longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, but we are one in Christ -
becoming heirs to the promise. Now that’s a great message. No wonder Paul says
all is hinged, all is connected to Christ’s resurrection. If he didn’t rise
from the dead, forget about life eternal. [ Cf. 1 Corinthians 15: 12-19.]
Then there are the teachings of Aquinas - in the 13th
century - coming out of Aristotle’s Greek Philosophy and then the Scholastic
theories that followed - teaching about
the perfection of the attributes of Christ - as well as God.
Then came in the centuries that followed many warmer and
more physical and human images of Christ
- as baby, as crucified, as heart, as Eucharist.
So there are many reflections, projections, images,
paintings, statues, answers to the question of Christ to us: “Who do you say I
am?”
And there are various possible heresies - missteps -
mistakes - misperceptions of who Christ is - happening from time to time as
well.
We now the reality of missed perception. We’ve all experienced people who think they know us, but we know they
don’t really know who we are.
Haven’t we all said in frustration, “Who do you think I
am?” and have we added to that, “Jesus Christ.”
GOD OUR FATHER
It’s Father’s Day - and we hear from Jesus - over and
over again - messages, revelations, descriptions - about God Our Father.
And we hear in the Gospels various misperceptions according
to Jesus about how people see God Our Father.
God doesn’t cause
blindness. He doesn’t only send rain on the good. Good and bad things happen to
good and bad people.
In fact, Jesus also tells us over and over again, that he
and the Father are one. He tells us: see me, see the Father. Hear me, you’ll
hear the Father.
So it’s important to get to know Christ - if we want to
get to know the Father.
That is a central Christian teaching.
And it takes us a lifetime to discover Christ - God -
Trinity - and then there is eternity - for more - the Great More called God.
We believe that God is a Trinity: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
I don’t know about your spiritual experiences - but I
know I have better understandings - perceptions - of Father and Son - than I do
of God the Holy Spirit.
TODAY IS
FATHER’S DAY
Today is Father’s Day - and we think about our dads -
living and dead.
Every Father hopefully knows consciously - and
unconsciously - the responsibility of revealing God - Love - Light - Goodness -
Presence - Thereness - Food - Forgiveness - Mercy - to their child - to their
children.
Every priest has the “If you ever knew my father” moment.
It happens after Mass - usually - one to one - or on a high school or an adult
retreat.
It wipes the priest out that day - that Sunday afternoon
- that week.
It goes like this. Someone says to us, “If you ever knew
my father, you would know how difficult it is, to hear God described as our
Father. It’s hard to say the Our Father…” because of the dad I had.
Every priest also knows how difficult it is to be called
“Father So and So” when someone tells them about a horrendous moment or
experience with some priest.
Every priest also knows how difficult it is to hear
someone cry, vent, as they talk about God abandoning them, because of the loss
of a child, a spouse, a parent, a loved one - because of cancer, abuse, rape,
accident, murder - or what have you.
So to be a Father - is quite a responsibility - as well
as being a Mother.
In general, we don’t mention the tough stuff on Father’s
Day or Mother’s Day.
OUR FATHER -
OUR DAD
I have a sermon somewhere that I preached on some
Father’s Day - and the gist of what I said was this.
If your dad was great, praise him and give him thanks -
living or dead.
If your dad made some mistakes, forgive him - please,
because if you don’t, then you might be a
repeat performance.
Instead of being a person with anger or breathing the
aftertaste of disaster, become a better person - a better father, mother, son, daughter, friend.
Jesus had a lot to say about this - with his turn the
other cheek, go the extra mile, forgive 70 times 7 stuff.
THE LUKE 15
EXPERIENCE
Have you had a Luke 15 experience yet?
Luke 15 is not today's gospel. That's coming up later on this year of Luke.
If you want to read one chapter of one book in the Bible,
read Luke 15.
I’m sure you’ve heard the story about W.C. Fields - about
someone catching him reading the Bible. The other person said, “I didn’t know
you were a church goer or a Bible person.”
And W.C. Fields said with his great smirky smile, “Just looking for
loopholes. Just looking for loopholes.”
In Luke 15, we have 3 stories, 3 loopholes, 3 images.
They are right there in the center of his gospel.
I’m meeting people wanting to know where are these
special doors of mercy so they can walk through.
They say they want mercy, forgiveness, indulgences.
I want to scream out that the door is a metaphor.
I want to scream, "The door is Jesus. Walk through the door, the gate, the
upper room, the temple called Jesus."
I want to scream, “Open up Luke 15 and enter into Jesus and have him tell you
those 3 stories there.”
Eat up the 3 stories there: about being a lost sheep,
being a lost coin, or about being a lost son or daughter. Eat, chew on, digest those 3 stories and
experience the Luke 15 experience.
In life sometimes I become a lost sheep. I stray. If
lost, start baing. Start screaming,
“Baa, baa, baa,” louder and louder, till God the Good Shepherd finds us
and brings us back to the 99 - to the flock.
In life, sometimes I am the lost coin. sometimes I lose
my shine and don’t reflect the light. It that has happened, pray to God our
Mother, that she will feel us - feel our coldness under her foot and rejoice
and celebrate because she has found us her lost coin - and scream to everyone -
that she has found us her lost coin.
In life, sometimes I am the lost son or daughter and I
have wandered way far from home and God our Father has looked out the window
and up the road a hundred days and a hundred nights hoping to see us in the
morning light or the evening sunset - coming home - smelly as a pig pen. And
Jesus is this one of his greatest stories says the father ran towards us -
embraces us - celebrates us - clothes us - and has a dinner for us - even if
other family members won’t celebrate our return - after all we’ve done to hurt
our dad - ruin the family name - have people pointing towards our front door.
Jesus is telling us in that story about what God our
Father is like.
Jesus is telling us in that story about what every dad
should be like.
Jesus is telling us in that story what he is like.
Jesus is telling us in that story what every priest is to be like.
I love it that
Pope Francis is still telling us to smell like the sheep.
So have you had a Luke 15 experience yet.
I had mine years ago. I was simply sitting there in a
church praying. I was picturing myself dying and appearing before God.
I began wondering what it’s going to be like appearing
before God - what God will say about my life - my mistakes - my laziness - all
the things I forgot - all my broken promises.
Then I said to God: “Wait a minute if you’re not like the
Prodigal Father in the Prodigal Son Story, the hell with you. I’m going to go
find that Father - the one your son Jesus told us about.”
Then I went, “Uh oh,” as I put my hand to my mouth.
Then I said, “No, that’s the God I want to meet. That’s
the God I’m following and expecting the promise.”
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Who Do You Say That I Am?”
I was talking to a father last night - just before the
baptism of his baby son.
He was a little bit early, so we got talking.
I said, “Happy Father’s Day.”
And I said, “With Father’s Day coming tomorrow, I was
thinking of my own dad - and maybe mention him in my homily for today.”
And this father said, “When I was a little kid, my father
was perfect. When I became a teenager, and when I was leaving home, my dad
wasn’t so perfect. Then when I got older, especially when I became a
father, I saw my father in a whole new
light.”
You and I have heard that scenario a hundred times - at
graduation addresses, 50th anniversaries as well as at funerals.
So the answer to the question, “Who do you say I
am?” when it comes to our fathers, for
starters, is, “It all depends.”
My dad died June 26, 1970 - a week after Father’s Day -
and my answer to the “Who Do You Say That I Am?” question has changed since I
preached his homily at his funeral.
My dad was Mister Quiet - Mister Smile - a reader and an
observer - from the corner - always there - always quiet.
I had sat down with him before he died and jotted down on
yellow legal pad paper all kinds of information about his growing up in
Ireland, coming to America in 1923 - at the age of 19 - looking for work in
Boston, Portland Maine, Philadelphia, and finally New York City.
Before my mom's death, I used a tape recorder and asked her about her life and my dad’s
life and got even more answers about who my dad was. I was also in Ireland in 1996 and I
talked to my dad’s brother about his brother. They told me if I went down to see him alone - in the afternoon - he would speak in English. In the meanwhile I have
talked to my two sisters and my brother about our dad.
It’s good to hear answers and to go figure not only who
Christ is, who God is, who our dad is, but also who we are.
