{"id":1134,"date":"2013-06-23T09:39:33","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T13:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1134"},"modified":"2013-06-23T09:39:33","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T13:39:33","slug":"homily-12th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/homily-12th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Homily – 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C"},"content":{"rendered":"

12th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
\nZechariah 12:10-11, 13:1
\nGalatians 3:26-29
\nLuke 9:18-24
\nJune 23, 2013<\/p>\n

What defines who we are?<\/p>\n

If someone asks you about yourself, what do you tell them?\u00a0 Do you tell them about your job?\u00a0 How about your family?\u00a0 How about your hobbies?\u00a0 How about your faith?<\/p>\n

Which of these would you list first?<\/p>\n

What does Paul say?\u00a0 \u201cThrough faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 Paul says we are no longer Jew or Greek, or slave or free.\u00a0 These are human distinctions.\u00a0 None of these matter in faith.\u00a0 What matters to God is that we become his children in Baptism.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that these earthly distinctions don\u2019t say something about who we are and what we are good at.\u00a0 In our job, we can use the gifts God has given us to make God\u2019s Kingdom come.\u00a0 Our family says something about the type of person we are.<\/p>\n

Yet, who we are is not defined by earthly things but rather by our faith in God.<\/p>\n

To understand who we are as Christians, we need to understand who Jesus is.<\/p>\n

Jesus wants us to understand who he is.\u00a0 He knows people are talking about him.\u00a0 So, he asks his disciples, \u201cWho do the crowds say that I am?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The responses all focus on comparing him to other people<\/i>, John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets.\u00a0 Then Jesus asks, \u201cBut who do you say that I am?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Peter answers \u201cThe Christ of God.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Peter nails it.\u00a0 Yet, Jesus then tells them not to tell anyone about this.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

We need to understand what it means to say Jesus Christ.\u00a0 First, we tend to say \u201cJesus Christ\u201d like a first and last name.\u00a0 \u201cChrist\u201d is not Jesus\u2019 last name.\u00a0 It is a title.\u00a0 More correctly, we would say \u2018Jesus the Christ\u2019 but we have internalized that Jesus is the Christ so well that we treat it as part of his name.<\/p>\n

But again, why does Jesus tell the disciples not to tell anyone about this?<\/p>\n

Christ is a Greek word for \u201cmessiah.\u201d\u00a0 The coming of a messiah had long been foretold by the prophets.\u00a0 The Jews had their own expectation of what the messiah would be like and do, namely become a king and defeat their enemies.<\/p>\n

Jesus doesn\u2019t do that, at least not as they expected an earthly king and defeat of the earthly enemies.\u00a0 Jesus is not an earthly king defeating the enemy but he is our heavenly king defeated our ultimate enemy, sin.<\/p>\n

The disciples don\u2019t know this and won\u2019t until they see him pierced in his side and hanging on the Cross.\u00a0 They know he is the Messiah but they don\u2019t understand what that really means.<\/p>\n

It means sacrifice.\u00a0 It means love, love with no limits<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Agnostics or atheists look at the Cross and see foolishness.\u00a0 We look at the Cross and see Jesus\u2019 love.<\/p>\n

That love defines who we are.\u00a0 It makes us who we are.\u00a0 It leads to our redemption.\u00a0 It makes possible our salvation.\u00a0 It changes the way we look at life.\u00a0 It defines who we are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Zechariah 12:10-11, 13:1 Galatians 3:26-29 Luke 9:18-24 June 23, 2013 What defines who we are? If someone asks you about yourself, what do you tell them?\u00a0 Do you tell them about your job?\u00a0 How about your family?\u00a0 How about your hobbies?\u00a0 How about your faith? Which of these …<\/p>\n

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