A Cycle – 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 26

Mt. 16:21-27

It is amazing how quickly how quickly we can move from a spiritual high to completely resuming a life based on worldly instincts.  It seems as if we desire to believe both holy and worldly at the same time.  We would be kidding ourselves if we denied being accepted by others is an instinct that motivates all of us.  We would be lying if we did not admit the world has helped shaped how we live our faith.  Isiah in our first reading is wrestling with the real issue of boldly living a life following the dictates of our faith in a world that tells us to keep our faith private.

He is rejected, mocked, and ridiculed and he wants to stop being God’s instrument.  It is too bad many Christian believers believe the job of sharing the good news is the role of someone else. Peter shows us how quickly a powerful experience with Christ can be cast aside when we are challenged with the hard reality of discipleship. Isiah shows us how we must face the reality of being rejected and ridiculed is the price of discipleship.  The desire to conform begins early in our childhood and as we grow into adulthood, we need to cast aside our ways and examine ourselves based on the knowledge that we have never been satisfied with what the world offers. A nagging sense of restlessness continuing to stir within us telling us there must be more. 

We desire to know we are loved. We need to know the promises of God are real, and we can experience peace, joy, and the certain knowledge we are forgiven.  We need to know our faith is founded on the truth God does not see our sin and how He delights in us.  We need to know our belief in Jesus as the Messiah the Son of the living God is more than a statement.  It is the core of our belief and proclaimed by our words and by our actions.  There comes a time we must recognize we have sought a comfortable blend of faith and the world and that compromise has created a spiritual numbness within us. We are practicing our faith instead of living our faith.

We need to respond to that nagging feeling within us, telling us there must be more than we are experiencing.  We need to feel the rebuke of Jesus just as Peter did, telling us we need a spiritual awakening. A transformation of our minds by allowing the words of the scriptures to replace the words of the world. We need to learn and stand firm on the promises of God.  God promised us a messiah who would die to free us from the penalty of our sins.  We need to embrace forgiveness and embrace the promise of the Holy Spirit who would transform our hearts.  The Spirit who would remind us of every action and every word of Jesus.

We need to remember God promised never to forsake us or abandon us. We need the eyes of our hearts to give us a spiritual vision to recognize when God is speaking to us by words, pictures, visions, songs, books, movies, the scriptures and yes even through homilies of men who understand God’s mercy is endless and non-judgmental. We need to feel the embrace of God just as the prodigal son id. The truth is too many of us depend on what we do as did the prodigal’s brother instead of God’s mercy as did the prodigal. 

The choice to live a disciple’s life has always been ours to choose. It is unfortunate our faith formation has been focused on dogma, theology, and rituals. We ave neglected the need to allow the Spirit to guide us, to change us and how God’s forgiveness is complete.  Discipleship training allows us to immerse ourselves in how to live our faith in a sinful world.  If you pay attention t the scriptures, Jesus constantly challenged the disciples and never let them get comfortable. There was always more they could learn, more they could do and more they could experience. While at the same time, He challenged how they integrated faith, law as it was practiced and how the spirit of the law demanded total belief in God verses a belief in their ability to follow the law. 

The real issue before us today is how are we responding to the promises of God, the gift of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Is that belief what motivates us or is our faith measured our faith measured by how well we are following the law, rituals, and other practices of our faith.