August 2008

It is a saying in our country that there are two things that we must do: pay taxes and die. However today’s three readings tell us that we must do more than that.

In our first reading the prophet Jeremiah tells us that people laughed at him and his message to the point that he cries. However, we know that Jeremiah spread God’s message anyway. He came to that point of crying and had a choice by his free will, he chose to proclaim God’s message to please God.

In our Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples and us that whoever wishes to come after him must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow him.

True, God gave us free will, but if we want to follow Jesus and His message, we have no choice but to deny many of our pleasures, or life that is accepted by our society, life that in many ways is against God’s commandments.

Plainly Jesus tells us: “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” He plainly tells us that in order to achieve heavenly life we must in many ways lose our earthly desire that goes against God’s teachings.
And we know how hard it is to follow that teaching during our daily life; we see and hear people laughing at us when we follow God’s commandments, when we follow Jesus’ teachings.

When those things happen, remember Jeremiah and how the society rejected him.

Remember Jesus. He was rejected and crucified because he did not fit to the society of His time.

Remember all the apostles and saints that were ridiculed for God’s sake. Now is our turn to make the right choice and to deny ourselves for Jesus.

We just heard Jesus asking his disciples: “Who do People say that the Son of Man is?”

What is Jesus talking about? His disciples traveled with him, maybe for two years now. And what is a “Son of Man” anyway?

If I were there I might say – you are Jesus, from Nazareth, a great teacher and miracle worker. Jesus, are you feeling unsure of yourself? I believe in you. You are a great guy. Don’t worry Jesus.

That is the way most people might answer. Our first reaction would be based on our own experience. How we think of ourselves. We are unsure of who we are. We are worried about what others think of us. I can relate to Jesus’ question.

And there is Peter, getting nervous maybe. Let’s move on. Enough of this self examination. I don’t care what others think of Jesus, of me, or of us. “Jesus, you are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.” OK, we are done, let’s go.

Then Jesus turns to Peter and tells him that this insight comes from God.

Now it is time for Peter to be afraid and to think about himself. God used me? God gave me insight? God touched me?

My friends,

We all try to understand ourselves. We all try to read what others think of us. Who am I? Where am I going? Have I made the right decisions? Do people like me? None of us are alone in this.

And… we are all Peter. God gives us all insight. Opportunity to know who He is. The ability to see Him and have Him within us.

You and I are human. You and I are Peter. We are asked to say clearly and with great passion, You are the Christ! the Messiah! the Son of God! You are asked for your insight at communion time.

I say “The Body and Blood of Christ” and I ask for your insight. If you say amen, when you say amen – you are Peter. You are touched by God with the grace to say: “Jesus, You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.” I see You and I take you into my heart.

In our Gospel reading today we have one of the most important songs in the scriptures.

In the first part of the song Mary tells about her happiness for what God has done in her life. The rest of the canticle tells of the way God has worked wonders through all time by His mighty deeds.

Mary exclaims what she understands – that God has kept His promise.

That is what we are celebrating today — a kept promise. And it is the most important promise in all of history. It is God’s promise of salvation.

God sent his only son Jesus into our world to complete this mission. Jesus brought us salvation which means that he saved us from sin and death so we could one day be in heaven with Him. God wants us to be with Him, forever and always. He wants us to live forever in his Kingdom of Glory.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Dormition and Assumption of Mary. Her falling asleep in death and her assumption into heaven. This means that Mary was treated in a special way when her life ended.

Why did Mary get this special treatment?

Mary kept all her promises to God and she did exactly as God wanted her to do. She showed her love for God by letting God make her the earthly mother of Jesus. She is just like our mothers – a woman filled with love for her child.

Jesus was able to come to us and save us because Mary said yes. She could have said no. She could have run away from something that was hard, but she decided to do what God wanted.

There is a great puzzle. If Jesus won our salvation by becoming human, dying on the cross and rising from the dead why is there still evil in the world?

This is part of the great mystery that is salvation. There are three moments of salvation: salvation was, salvation is now, and salvation is to come. It is the past, present and future of our ability to be with God.
Jesus achieved our salvation in the historical past, 2000 years ago. His salvation is present in our world right now, especially when He comes to us in the Holy Mass. And his salvation is to come in all its fullness at the end of time.

The point is that we have to cooperate. We have to make the right choices. We have to say yes to God. We have to reject sin no matter how easy or justified it seems. We have to do our part and work hard at keeping our promise to God. We have every opportunity to cooperate – it is an eternal opportunity.

However, I urge you to choose now. Say yes to God while you have time, here and now.

What we are celebrating today is a promise kept.

Make your choice and you too will celebrate one day because of the promise you keep – your promise to God.

We just heard in Gospel the apostles were going to the other shore to pray. Suddenly those experienced fishermen got frightened by a storm. They lived through many storms, and yet this one truly scared them. But there is more, they panic when they see Jesus walking on the water.

Jesus tries to calm them down saying: “It is I, do not be afraid.”

And again Peter, the one who always had to say something, “Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water.”

Can you imagine how strong his faith had to be to step out of the boat? And yet Peter did step out of the boat and started to walk on the water. But very quickly Peter lost that confidence and faith.

His Faith and courage fail him and he starts to sink.

Jesus quickly answers his prayer. Jesus comes to Peter’s aid but at the same time Jesus rebukes him for his lack of faith. Christ presence brings peace in disciple’s hearts.

When we are confronted with stress and pressure of various kinds we are very much like Peter. From very strong faithful believers we become almost non believers. A sudden turn of events in life and we are faced with storms which threaten the peace and security of our families and homes. At such moments our faith fails and we need to hear those encouraging words of Christ: “Do not be afraid.”

Life is journey and we need the help of Christ to guide us to our destination.

Peter’s mistake was that he turned to Jesus in real prayer only in a moment of crisis, when he was in fear.

There is a lesson for all of us who tend to forget about God when all is going well and who only become serious abut prayer when problems come to our lives. And yet Christ wants us not only during those times.

Christ wants us during our happy times as well. He wants both our praises and begging.

We can see that the Gospel highlights the importance of faith and prayer during our daily lives, not only on Sundays, not only of our times that we are in need, but on daily basis.

So, let’s not be afraid to have faith in Jesus, and let’s not be afraid to pray to him not only during our time of trial but during our happiness as well.

Jesus fed five thousand people in the desert. Everyone got as much as they wanted. But he couldn’t have done it without the five loaves and two fish given him by a young boy, and without the help of the apostles.

Mother Teresa fed nine thousand people every day in Calcutta. But she couldn’t have done so without the generosity of many people around the world.

One day a young couple came into her house and gave her money. “Where did you get so much money?’ Mother Teresa asked. “

We were married two days ago and we decided not to have a wedding feast, but to give the money to feed the poor instead: Why would you do this?’ she asked.

‘Because we love each other and wanted to begin our married life with an act of sacrifice.

Sometimes a small deed takes on an importance far beyond its actual value. When Jesus told the apostles to give food to the people, they said, ‘all we have with us is five loaves and two fish: On hearing this Jesus might have said, That’s no good. Forget the whole thing. Send the people home: But he said no such thing. Instead, he took the five loaves and two fish, and with them fed the people.

There is a tendency today to go in for the big gesture, and to neglect the small gesture hence, we may be tempted to think that because our contribution is small, it will make no difference. So we excuse ourselves from doing anything. But everything helps.

Feeding hungry bodies is one of the corporal works of mercy. It is something we could and should be able to do for ourselves. But there is a food which only God can give.

Jesus was concerned about those who were hungry. However, he didn’t just feed people’s bodies; he nourished their minds, their hearts, and their spirits. The people Jesus fed in that lonely place that day went home fully nourished – in body and in spirit.

The miracle involved a lot more than giving food to people. It was an expression of the care and love of God for his people. The food is a symbol of the life God wants us to have -life here on earth, and eternal life in His Kingdom.