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 13^th 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, 50^th 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.