Deacon Cornell’s Homily

Well Peter had barely updated his Facebook profile to say he was the Rock on which Jesus was building his Church, when he had to go back in and change it "Satan".

All of today's readings challenge us to reflect on what it means to say we are Catholics. What would Jesus call me today: Satan or Rock? Peter wasn't evil; that is not what Jesus meant by calling him Satan, which in Hebrew means "the opposer". Peter's opposition is not any of the things we typically consider "sins"; it is his attempt to ignore the fact that doing God's will usually means sacrifice. For Jesus, the sacrifice was suffering and death. For most of us, our sacrifice is much less dramatic but I am not sure it is any less difficult. We face many "Satans" in our lives in this culture: people or things that oppose our faith by promising pleasure or comfort or power or safety if we only have this or do that. These Satans try to dupe us into thinking that we can avoid the sacrifice that comes with loving.

If you ask someone what they do and they tell you they are a doctor, or a plumber, or waiter, you have a pretty good idea what that person does day in and day out. But what about someone who says they are a Catholic? Would people know what that person does day in and day out? I would suggest not, at least not in our society. They might think that this means they go to mass regularly, or say prayers on a regular basis, or even obey the commandments faithfully. If someone says they are a devout Catholic, it means they also go to confession regularly. Being a Catholic means doing what Jesus calls us to do. Jesus calls us to be his body which is given up for the salvation of many, to be his blood which is poured out so that sins may be forgiven. That is what Jesus means by "Do this in remembrance of me". That is what we are sent forth to do as Catholics at the end of each Mass.

To understand the Mass we have to understand baptism because the Eucharist is a strengthening, a completion of our baptismal initiation. In baptism we die to our false selves and rise from the waters to be clothed in Christ. Then we are anointed priest, prophet and king because to follow Jesus we need to live our lives as he did. By celebrating the Eucharist we are strengthened in those roles. A priest is one who helps us understand who God is and who we are in relation to God. A prophet is one who speaks God's truth, advocating for the weak and the poor, even when it is not what others want to hear. A king is one who cares for those who are in need, especially those who have no one else to help them. This is what Jesus commands us to do in remembrance of him. This is what we are sent forth from each Mass to be in the world.

Jeremiah cries out to God that he was duped by God. God promised Jeremiah that he would have God with him when he proclaimed God's truth even though the king, and the other prophets and the priests and the people of Jerusalem did not want to hear that. Jeremiah was scorned, jailed, thrown in a dry well to die, and finally dragged off to die in exile to Egypt when Jerusalem was destroyed. The truth is that Jeremiah duped himself into thinking that if God was with him nothing bad would happen to him. Jesus makes sure his disciples including us do not dupe ourselves the same way. Following Jesus, being the Body of Christ here and now, is what we must do to bring salvation to the world, but that will be a cross, not a cushy desk job. One of the ways we can understand what Jesus means when he says we have to take up our cross daily, is that he wants us to embrace our baptismal roles consciously, that we choose to be good priests, prophets, and kings. Do we examine how our choices about what we eat, what we buy, how we spend our time to see if these are choices of a priest, prophet and king? Do we take the time to prepare ourselves to be better priests, prophets and kings? For example, did we spend 10 or 15 minutes this past week going over the readings for today's mass? With the internet we can easily find out what the readings are or how to access them, or even to find commentary on them to help us understand.

Jesus tells us we must take up our cross each day, not as a sign of suffering but rather a sign of trusting in God. It reminds us that God will be with us, even in the worst pain and suffering, not necessarily to take away that pain and suffering but to transform it into what is needed to save the world. As Paul warns us, let us not be duped into thinking like our culture. Instead, let us be transformed by the renewal of our mind, that we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Do this in remembrance of me.

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