This is a special
time of the year. A time of change. Of transition. Caps and gowns. Wedding dresses and tuxedos. Retirement gold watches. For sale signs, moving vans perhaps. Lots of changes in peoples’ lives, in loved
ones’ lives, this time of year.
And it’s also a time of
recreation. Of leisure. Vacation.
A season when we have some free time.
To slow down, not be so hurried with life, bustling from one activity to
the next, from one day to the next, until we wonder where the time went. A time to enjoy a good book at the beach,
listening to the ocean’s roar, or watch an eagle soar over a mountain lake, or smell
the scent of pine hiking through the deep woods.
A season in which we have time to sit
back and relax and reflect –ponder, perhaps, some of life’s great
questions. What is the meaning of
life? What is the meaning of my
life? Where am I going, how am I doing,
in my relationships, my job, my schooling , my faith?
In light of this season and these
questions, todays’s Gospel from Saint Luke comes to us at a perfect time. For Jesus seems to be doing pretty much the
same thing. He is praying in solitude, Luke
tells us, and it appears that Jesus is likewise taking time to take stock of
His life.
“Who do the crowds say that I am,” He
asks the disciples.
“John the Baptist,” “Elijah,” “one of the ancient prophets come
back,” they tell Him.
Then He asks them the 64 thousand
dollar question: “but who do YOU
say that I am?” And while Peter answers
quickly – “the Christ of God.” I have to
wonder exactly how I would answer if the Lord looked me right in the eye and posed
that question to me, right here and right now.
“Who do You say that I am?”
For this is not only a good
question, an important question. My
sisters and brothers, this is the question. For us who claim the name “Christian,” it is
the only question that matters. There is
no more important question, and there is no more important answer than the one
you and I give to that question. “Who do
You say that I am?”
Now if we were asked that question it
would be easy to recite the catechism lessons we’ve learned, or what we learned
in grammar school or RCIA classes. Lord,
You are the Savior. The Son of God. The Word made Flesh. Emmanuel, God with us. And those are all good answers, correct
answers.
But, my brothers and sisters, if I
may be so bold to suggest that they’re not exactly the answer He’s looking
for. No. I think the answer He’s looking for from you
and from me is a simple one word response.
Who do You say that I am? Lord
you are EVERYTHING to me. Everything.
I think what He wants to hear from
us is - Lord you’re the reason I wake up in the morning, the reason I live and
breathe. The reason I was conceived and
born. The reason for every single thing
I do and think and say. The reason for
my life. Such an answer is rooted in a
deeply personal love relationship with Him. Everything. That’s the answer He wants to hear, it seems
to me. Everything.
One of my favorite Christian rock
songs, Avalon’s Everything to Me, says it well:
<He’s>
Everything to me
More than a story
More than words on a page of history
He is the air that I breathe, the water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
Oh He's everything, everything to me
More than a story
More than words on a page of history
He is the air that I breathe, the water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
Oh He's everything, everything to me
I love that song. Lord you’re everything to me.
But, if you’re like me, that answer
is a pretty tall order. If I’m truthful
with myself and with the Lord, I can immediately think of all the many ways
He’s NOT everything to me. All the ways
I turn away from Him, focusing on myself.
The ways He’s just one more thing in my life, one hour out of 168 in the
week, perhaps. Yes, Lord, I
believe. Yes, you are my savior, I am
your disciple. But are you everything to
me? Gotta think about that one for
awhile, Jesus.
And I think He understands
that. I think He recognizes that
discipleship is not a one-and-done, forever-after thing. It’s like a seed that must be planted and grow
and be nourished and fed and may suffer setbacks but takes time to
flourish. And happily, our Lord gives us
the instructions of how to begin. “If
anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily
and follow me.” As I was reading this
Gospel, the word “Daily” hit me over the head.
Take up our cross and follow.
Daily. Every day.
If we drop it, if we fall, pick it
up again and follow. And what are our
crosses? Our sufferings, our pain, our
broken relationships, our sins, our everything.
We take them up, and we offer them up, we give them to Our Lord who
walks with us on this road of life. We
bear them for His glory and He lightens them and gives us grace to endure,
especially through frequent reception of His most precious Body and Blood in
the Eucharist.
Taking up our crosses and following
Him - that is the way, that is the ONLY way, He tells us, that He can and will become
everything to me, to you. His is the
road to Calvary, and as His disciples, it is our road too. But it is also the only road to Easter
morning and resurrection. And it is the
only road to eternal joy in union with Our Lord, Jesus the Christ, and with His
Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment