Homily for the week of June 20, 2010

TWELFTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR, YEAR C 2010

Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1

Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

Galatians 3:26-29

Luke 9:18-24

Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip was with a few friends and asked them these questions:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

3. Name the World Series winners of the last ten years.

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

But here is another quiz.

1. List a few teachers who helped you get through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

This is easier because the people who make a difference in our life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

Charles Schultz’s beautiful insights eloquently underscore the Gospel message: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal.” On this Father's weekend we might try reclaiming a treasure we have been neglecting. There is no shortage of evidence that our society has been experiencing a crisis in fatherhood. Tragically, more than one-third of children in United States do not live with their fathers, and this number is growing.

On this Father's Day Weekend what if a father should ask his children: “Who do you say that I am?” How well do we know our fathers? One man speaking of his father’s death said that he learned more about his father in the days surrounding his father’s funeral than he had learned in a lifetime. The son knew his father only from his own experience. What he could not know or appreciate is who his father was in the eyes of other family members and his many friends. Our society desperately needs faithful fatherly witnesses.

In a recent conversation a man talked about his father. He knew that his father had studied to be a musician but became a builder because there was no money in music to raise a family. He did not know that his father had occasionally directed the city’s symphony. He did not know that his father had wanted to go to the seminary to become a priest, but his father would not let him. The man had always been jealous of his father’s independent spirit and his successes in business. What he did not know was that his father was jealous of him and his son's own success.

He recalled his father as being very caring. He did not know that his father had insisted that the children be fed and in bed before he got home from work. The father had certainly changed, but the man had no perspective to see it. The man was upset that there were so many things he had never known about his father. There were so many things he had never asked his father or even thought to ask.

Regrets such as these should be remembered so that we can prepare ourselves to answer if Jesus should ask us, “Who do you say that I am?” There is so much to be learned, so much to be experienced. We assume a great deal, but rarely do we test our assumptions or let them drop away so that some new understanding might shed more light on who Jesus is.

Some in the crowd might say that the real Jesus is really Elijah. and again the crowd hits on a good answer. Elijah represented one of the great prophets. A prophet was a person who was considered an inspired teacher. The way that Jesus talked and taught made him a good candidate to be Elijah. And then others in the crowd thought that Jesus might be one of the prophets of old come back. That sounds good because these prophets talked about sin and forgiveness and conversion and the Jews had been shaken up by them.

But when asked of the crowd for their opinions, then let's turn to the disciples, those who claimed to be followers of Jesus. WHO DO YOU SAY THAT JESUS IS, we ask them.

So Peter answers first. And Peter answers: You are the Son of God. Peter got it right. And after Jesus was known to be the real Jesus, then he could be treated differently, like the real crystal glass, and those who claimed they believed in him would have to act accordingly.

Our own mission depends on how we answer Christ's question. Who do we say is? Put another way, what is our image of Christ? What is our image of God? My image of God can be of a distant, punishing God who is always waiting to find out my faults and condemn me. Or God can be an abstract concept with no relationship with real people. God can also be a close friend, loving and uplifting, particularly when I need someone to care. But does my God challenge me, asking me to live out the same pattern that we see in Jesus? And when God makes this challenge does God leave me on my own, or is God my companion on the journey, not asking me to do anything except what God has already undertaken?

Jesus is our model for everything. There is only one Jesus. He showed us not only that he is came do show us all: happiness, care, answer to our problems, salvation, future home, but also that that he wants to be with us inspite of all. Today and always we invites us to a change of heart. Where in your life do people most need to know Christ? How are you showing him to them? Thank Christ for being with you and loving others through you.