TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY OF YEAR "A"

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY OF YEAR   I

“Who do you say I am” (Mt. 16, 13-20)

It sometimes happens that when I make a phone call, someone else picks up the phone and has the cheek to ask, “Who’s this speaking ?” I usually answer, “This is William shakespeare !”You all know the original William Shakespeare. But may I remind you of Mr. Charles Lamb, last century’s British essayist. It if were not for Charles Lamb, William Shakespeare would be an unknown. It was Mr. Lamb who snatched the playwright from obscurity because he came to be looked upon as ancient and eminently forgettable. One night Charles Lamb and his cronies were chatting about Shakespeare over good port and Havanas. One of his friends asked Lamb, “Supposing Shakespeare were to stroll into our dining room at this moment ?” Charles Lamb replied, “We would raise a toast to the great man.”  Another friend asked, “Supposing Jesus Christ were to come into our company.” Lamb replied, “Ah, we would all get down on our knees instantly.” Our great and beloved Hindu Bengali philosopher  Vivekananda once said, “If I see Jesus Christ standing before me, I will put my hand into my heart, extract the blood and spread it on his feet.” {How did the fellow think of saying that before I did ?}.  But there, ladies and gentlemen, is the $64 difference between the Man from Nazareth and all other people you can think of. Jesus Christ is God; and all others, no matter what their gifts, are but clowns strutting on the stage for a brief time.

When today’s Gospel opens, Jesus was in Caesurae Philipi in the north-eastern corner of Palestine. There groupies and paparazzi would not think of looking for him. This was not his usual turf. The sand in his clock was running out. Yet, he had much to teach the Twelve before he could give them their diplomas and doctorates. This was quality classroom time. This, too, is one of the most decisive periods in the life of Christ. Though he was aware of his divinity, were his own people equally sharp ? He was fully aware he had a rendezvous to keep with his executioners. Thus, he had to know whether the twelve apostles had any inkling whom they were travelling with. The right answers to his probing would make his day. If one the other hand he came up empty, the score would be Satan 3 and Christ zero !  All his labours would have been wasted.

“Who do you say I am?”  Imagine then his elation and pleasure when Peter, acting as spokesman for the others (and us), told him he was “the Son of the living God.” Peter’s confession was a moment of genuine revelation that can have come only from God. We are not dealing simply with friendship or of admiration for a good and holy person, but here is transcendent divinity. Every disciple knew in his bones that the highest human terms were totally inadequate to categorise their Leader. We can write books, give long talks till we drop dead, we can spend hours in prayer and study of God’s word till our brains dissolve, but it is only through God’s gracious revelation that we can truly know him.

To each of us Jesus the Christ leans over and whispers, “But you, who you do say I am ?”  What does He mean to you ?  Is Jesus the sum and substance of your life and mine, the significance of your being and the end of your existence ? Jesus must forever be your own discovery. Our knowledge of him can never be something that stays locked in a closet.  It must be up front. Christianity does not mean memorising the Apostles’ Creed. Rather, it means knowing a PERSON  as well as you know yourself. Governor Pontius Pilate asked Our Lord if He was in fact the King of the Jews. Jesus, though exhausted and barely able to stand, shot back a question: “Does this question come from you or have others told you about me ?” (John 18,34).

When St. Paul was drafting his letter to Timothy, he did not write: “I know what I have trusted”; but rather, in his best handwriting he wrote that great line, “I know whom I have trusted” (2 Tim. 1,12). We must join to our belief the statement of Christ who says, “...whoever believes in me will do the works that I do....yes, he will do even greater ones” (John 14,12). This is a line that most of us would want to disregard, because we want Jesus to carry the can and we ourselves will simply run alongside for the ride.  We want to play the spectator role; but that becomes none of us. Like Christ, we must move and shake the world in our time.

Prayer  (Kay Bullock):      

Who are you, Jesus, that you speak with such authority ?  Not like scholars and teachers, simply repeating each other.  You speak the Word of God to us and all who will listen.  The Power of God living within you shines through everything you say.

Lord Jesus, help us to hear what you are saying,   to understand what you are teaching,  to know God’s power in our lives and in the words we speak of you.