{"id":2634,"date":"2018-09-16T12:09:51","date_gmt":"2018-09-16T16:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2634"},"modified":"2018-09-16T12:09:51","modified_gmt":"2018-09-16T16:09:51","slug":"24th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/24th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

24th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nIsaiah 50:5-9a
\nPsalm 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (9)
\nJames 2:14-18
\nMark 8:27-35
\nSeptember 16, 2018<\/p>\n

Jesus had been doing miracles, curing people and driving out demons.\u00a0 He had also been preaching.\u00a0 Certainly, the miracles attracted crowds but what do the people think of Jesus beyond looking for miracles?<\/p>\n

With this in mind, Jesus asked his disciples a simple question, \u201cWho do people say that I am?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 The words of the question are simple but its meaning goes much deeper. \u00a0\u201cThey said in reply, \u201cJohn the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

While we know none of these answers are right, what is important is that the people were indeed talking about who<\/em><\/strong> Jesus is.\u00a0 Everything Jesus has done is meant to point people to know who he truly is.<\/p>\n

If Jesus asked you today \u201cwho do you say that I am?,\u201d how would you answer?\u00a0 Is Jesus just a wise man (prophet)?\u00a0 Do you seek Jesus as a miracle worker who can get rid of all your problems?\u00a0 Is He a teacher?\u00a0 Is He a moral authority?<\/p>\n

Jesus went on to ask his disciples, \u201cBut who do you say that I am?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Peter is the one to respond and he gives the right answer, \u201cYou are the Christ<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Today we say \u201cJesus Christ\u201d as if \u201cChrist\u201d was Jesus\u2019 last name.\u00a0 It is not.\u00a0 It is a title.\u00a0 It means \u201cmessiah.\u201d\u00a0 Peter realizes that Jesus is the one that the Jews have been waiting 1,000 years for.<\/p>\n

Of course, we know that Jesus is indeed the messiah, the Christ they had been waiting for.\u00a0 What does it mean to call Jesus \u201cthe Christ\u201d?<\/p>\n

Peter held to the common Jewish expectation of the time that the messiah would become a great political king, get rid of the Romans, and restore the political kingdom of Israel.\u00a0 Jesus is the messiah but He did none of these things.<\/p>\n

Yet this is what Peter expects.\u00a0 So, when Jesus begins to teach them about his coming Passion, that He \u201cmust suffer greatly\u2026be rejected\u2026and be killed<\/em>,\u201d it made no sense to Peter.\u00a0 In fact, it sounds impossible.\u00a0 Peter would not let this happen.\u00a0 He rebuked Jesus.\u00a0 How can he go from calling Jesus \u201cthe Christ\u201d to rebuking him so quickly?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s because of Peter\u2019s expectations.\u00a0 We have own expectations.\u00a0 Do our expectations of God keep us from really knowing God or are we open to allowing God to change what we think and what we expect?<\/p>\n

A key component for many people today regarding whether they believe in God at all or what they expect centers on the question of suffering.\u00a0 Some people will do anything possible to escape suffering.\u00a0 I think some people might actually put more effort into getting rid of their suffering than it would take to accept the suffering and live through it.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t hard to imagine why Peter and the others can\u2019t understand how or why the messiah would suffer.\u00a0 We might imagine that God would make it easy for the messiah.<\/p>\n

They did not understand how the prophecies foretelling of a \u201csuffering servant\u201d applied to Jesus.\u00a0 Perhaps we could even say they didn\u2019t want<\/em><\/strong> the suffering servant oracles to apply to a messiah.\u00a0 They based their hope on the relief of suffering.<\/p>\n

Jesus does something different.\u00a0 He shows us a value in suffering.\u00a0 Why did Jesus come?\u00a0 It was not to set the Jews free from the Romans but rather to set us all free from our sins.\u00a0 Jesus came to bring us a new perspective.<\/p>\n

Instead of seeking greatness and release from suffering, Jesus tells us, \u201cWhoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

To deny ourselves is to let go of our desire for selfish desire for wealth and power.\u00a0 It is to put others before ourselves.\u00a0 Jesus is the perfect example of this.\u00a0 He had nothing to gain for himself by becoming human.\u00a0 He became human to \u201ctake up his cross<\/em>\u201d so that our sins might be forgiven.<\/p>\n

In doing so, Jesus showed us the way to the Father and calls us to take up our own crosses as witnesses to our faith in God.\u00a0 To trust in God requires us to let him shape us and be our motivation.<\/p>\n

James speaks of faith and works.\u00a0 Many people have a misunderstanding that Catholics think our works alone can save us.\u00a0 That is not Catholic teaching.\u00a0 What our Catholic faith does teach us is that if we have true faith in Jesus, then in practicing that faith we will do works because <\/em><\/strong>of our faith.<\/p>\n

How do you think your life is different because of your faith in Jesus?\u00a0 Does it change your view of suffering?\u00a0 Sometimes at the end of a day, I lie in my bed with the light on staring at the crucifix that hangs on the wall.\u00a0 I start \u201ccomplaining\u201d to God about the bad parts of my day.\u00a0 In doing so, I am complaining about my \u201csufferings.\u201d\u00a0 As I stare at the crucifix complaining, I look at Jesus\u2019 suffering on the cross and realize I have nothing (well maybe a little) to complain about.<\/p>\n

Recognizing this leads me to begin to accept the suffering I face as part of the works I am to do to serve God.\u00a0 What works do your faith call you to do?<\/p>\n

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

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Isaiah 50:5-9a Psalm 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (9) James 2:14-18 Mark 8:27-35 September 16, 2018 Jesus had been doing miracles, curing people and driving out demons.\u00a0 He had also been preaching.\u00a0 Certainly, the miracles attracted crowds but what do the people think of Jesus beyond looking for miracles? …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[498,296,133],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Gu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions\/2635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}