“Who do people say that I am?”
Jesus asked His disciples & He asks each one of us: “Who do you say that I am?” Our answer to that question is the most important one we will ever answer! “Faith is a gift, a leap, it is trust in Jesus’ Word, it is joining with the apostles in following Jesus.” [Adopted from C.S. Lewis]
I want to share with you some excerpts from a homily preached by Fr. Mychal Judge on September 10, 2001. Fr. Judge was a Franciscan & a chaplain for the Fire Department of City of New York (FDNY).
On September 10, 2001, he celebrated Mass at the dedication of a new firehouse in the city and he preached, “Good days. And bad days. Up days. Down days. Sad days. Happy days. But never a boring day on this job.
“You do what God has called you to do. Which is a mystery. And a surprise…. You have no idea what you get on that rig, No matter how big the call.
No matter how small. You have no idea what God is calling you to.”
When we answer today’s question, “Who do you say that I am? If our answer is Jesus - You are the Messiah, true God & true Man then we should set our lives on a course to follow God’s Call. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Father Mychal did not hesitate to go to the World Trade Center after terrorists flew two airliners into its twin towers. He knew God called him to minister to firefighters, the other emergency personnel and the people at work trapped in the World Trade Center.
I pray that we will never face that kind of terror & evil. Yet we should be mindful of our call to self-sacrifice each day. In today’s Gospel Peter is terrified at the prospect of Jesus suffering and dying; but Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to come after must deny himself take up his cross and follow me.” In our second reading St. James reminds us to walk our Christian/Catholic talk, our commitment, our discipleship to live our beliefs.
At the beginning of Mass Fr. Marty prayed, “… O God … Grant that we may serve you with all our heart ….” [Collect 24th Sunday] And, in our reading from Isaiah he teaches us to listen to God, to accept God’s help. We know that Jesus taught, that He would suffer, die and rise from the dead. Then He gave us the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide us.
In our Gospel Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me Satan” - He was telling Peter to change his idea of the Messiah to the one of the Suffering Servant that Jesus lived & wanted Peter to live. Peter did that and now we are called to do the same. When our suffering comes Jesus will be with us to help us, but we must be patient.
We live a society of instant, quick, fast; God always answers our prayers, our requests, but we must TRUST His answer and His time. The Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages ….
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you and accept the anxiety of feeling in suspense and incomplete.”
Accept the slow work of God but with laser like focus answer God’s call to be His disciple, accept His grace and “do His will.”
The phrase “Never forget” has become synonymous with 9/11 as well it should. But remember we are called to “NEVER FORGET” that each one of us is a disciple of Christ committed to follow Him without reservation.
For a few minutes think about your commitment as a disciple to Jesus Christ, are you following Him – His Way or your way?
Jesus asks each day, “Who do you say that I am?”
May God Be Praised.
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