Introduction:
Yes I am missing standing up in front of a crowd of people each
week and sharing my reflections on the Word of God. But I am much more
appreciating the experience of our smaller Home Mass with a more dedicated,
spiritually in tune group of people who share their response to Jesus’ message
and we all have the opportunity to speak about the personal message we take
from the Gospel at Mass.
This Sunday’s gospel explains the basis of our faith as
acceptance of Jesus as the ‘Christ’, the Son of the Living God and our Lord and
Saviour. It also tells us that Jesus became our Saviour by his suffering, death
and resurrection. Finally, it outlines the three conditions of Christian
discipleship, namely, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following
Jesus.
Scripture lessons: Jesus saw aspects of his own life and
mission foreshadowed in Isaiah’s Servant Songs. A large portion of one of these
is presented as the first reading today. In the gospel, in response to Peter’s
profession of faith in Him as the Messiah, Jesus foretells, for the first of
three times, his passion, death and resurrection. Like the servant described in
today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity
to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation
of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. The psalmist invites us to turn to the Lord
for help in the trials of this world. It
is in God that we will find deliverance from trouble and relief from our
afflictions. (Ps 54). Today’s second reading, taken from James chapter
2, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also
something to be alleviated.
James explains how our faith in Jesus, the Messiah, should
help us to alleviate the sufferings of others by our works of mercy, both
corporal and spiritual.
Today’s gospel consists of two sections: 1) the messianic
confession of Peter, who acknowledged Jesus as “the Christ (Messiah), the Son
of the living God.” and 2) Jesus’ prediction of His Passion, death and
resurrection, followed by His clear teaching on the three conditions of
Christian discipleship: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross and follow me.”
Life Messages: 1) Jesus wants to become a living, present
reality for us, loving us, forgiving us, helping us, transforming our lives and
outlook and building a personal relationship with us. The knowledge of Jesus as
Lord and personal Saviour needs to become a living, personal experience for
each Christian drawing each of us to make a loving response. The relationship
deepens and grows as we listen to Him through the daily, meditative reading of
the Bible, speak to Him in our daily, personal and family prayers, offer him
our lives on the altar in the Holy Mass and receive his reconciling forgiveness
for our sins in the sacrament of reconciliation.
In the Eucharistic celebration this weekend, we are
celebrating and experiencing in our lives the death and resurrection of Christ,
the Messiah, our Lord and personal source of meaning.
2) We need to surrender our life to Jesus and trust in His
leading: by rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction
that Jesus is present in every person we meet. The final step is to praise and
thank God in all the events of our lives, both good and bad, realizing that
God’s love shapes every event of our lives.
"Who do Mormons,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam say that I
am?"
The first two groups claim to be Christian and Islam speaks about
Christ. But all of them have a confused
Christology. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly
called the Mormons, incorporates the Lord's name in its title, but its beliefs
about Jesus are fatally flawed. A basic compendium of the Mormon gospel is
titled Mormon Doctrine. It was written by apostle Bruce Redd McConkie, an
influential Mormon theologian. According
to McConkie, Mormons believe that "Lucifer, the son of the morning, is our
elder brother, and the brother of Jesus." The Journal of Discourses, a
26-volume Mormon publication presenting public sermons by many early Mormon
leaders, includes such statements as this: "Jesus, our elder brother was
begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and
who is our father in Heaven." The same volumes assert, "Jesus was
married at Cana of Galilee and had many wives ... he also had many
children." From these writings, it is clear that the Mormons fail the test
when it comes to answering Jesus Christ's question, "Who do you say I
am?" (v. 29). Ask the Jehovah's Witnesses, "Who do you say Jesus
is?" The Jehovah's Witness publication, New Heavens and New Earth,
declares by way of response, "Michael the Archangel is no other than the
only begotten Son of God, now Jesus Christ." Consider the religion of Islam. Ask the
Muslim who Jesus is and the answer we get from official publications is
"Jesus was no more than a mortal whom Allah favored and made an example to
the Israelites. They are unbelievers who say God is Messiah, Mary's son"
(Sura 43:59, Quran). Until people see Jesus as Peter did, as "the Christ,
the Son of the Living God," they miss the mark
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