Homily on the 21th Sunday in O.T., 27 August 2023
This past week I have received many requests for prayers, especially for the healing of their loved ones. I could feel the anxiety in their requests, and so, I assured them of the prayers of our community especially in our Mass intentions. Thanks to God, all those who asked for prayers for healing have started to recover.
My dear brothers and sisters, we gather today as a Christian community to thank and praise the Lord for his goodness, mercy and compassion. We thank Him for many answered prayers and intentions. He is undoubtedly the God-with-us caring for his people. “God is good…”
Last Sunday if you recall we heard the story of Jesus testing the faith of the Canaanite woman. The woman was begging Jesus to heal her daughter who was seriously ill. Despite Jesus’ silence and indifference she continued to ask and persisted in her humble petition, believing in her heart that only Jesus could cure her. The story ended happily with Jesus finally curing and healing her daughter; and He affirmed her for her unwavering faith. I am sure you yourselves have similar stories to tell from your very own experiences of trials and answered prayers this past week or these past months.
Today as we continue walking with Jesus following the footsteps of St. Matthew, we find Jesus stopping for a while to rest from the tiring journey. And he grabs the chance to have a chat with his disciples closely following him, samtang wala na ang daghang tawo, ug wala nay nangayo’g tabang o milagro (habang wala ng sumusunod na madlang tao, at wala nang humihingi ng tulong o milagro). I guess every now and then Jesus would spend some light moments with his disciples. He isn’t really like a superman who doesn’t get tired; neither is he a workaholic nor a slave-driver who doesn’t care for how his friends and loved ones would feel. No, Jesus is not like that.
Jesus is a very human person just like any of us. He would get tired too and would need some rest; and he would want to chat while resting in order to get to know more his disciples and make himself known to them. He came not only for healing; he also needed time for bonding. He wanted his disciples to really know him deeply because he intended to share with them the same power to do good. Ganahan siya nga ang iyang mga tinun-an dili lang magsige’g sunod sa iyang lakang ug sige’g tan-aw sa iyang mga binuhat. Labaw sa tanan gituyo niya nga ang iyang mga apostol makadawat og gahum nga magbuhat og daghang maayo ug milagro para sa uban. (Ang hangarin nya para sa kanyang mga alagad ay hindi lamang yung sunod nang sunod sa yapak nya, at hindi lamang yung tingin lang nang tingin sa mga ginagawa nya; higit sa lahat hangad ng Panginoon na sila rin ay magkaroon ng kapangyarihan na gumawa ng maraming kabutihan at kababalaghan.) In other words, knowing very well that his life was short, and Jesus wished and planned that someone else would later on continue the good work, the work of salvation & redemption he had begun in this world.
And so at that moment he asked this interesting question to his disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” I guess the disciples were very quick to feed back to Jesus the beautiful words they heard from other people. Like today, there were surely many “Marites” among his own disciples. “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
But the more important question was actually the next one: “Who do YOU say that I am?” The disciples must have been silenced for a while, unsure of what to answer to that unexpectedly thought-provoking question. Good enough, the whole group was saved from that awkward situation by Simon Peter, the fisherman, who declared in reply “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And the rest, we know, is history.
My dear brothers and sisters, this amazing confession of faith was a milestone in the disciples’ journey with Jesus, but more particularly it was a turning point in the life of Peter. Two Sundays ago, we saw Peter drowning at Lake Galilee for lack of faith as he tried to walk on the water towards Jesus. Today we see him leveling up. He is growing in that faith. This time, therefore, Jesus feels more assured that the mission he had begun would continue, because Peter and the disciples have come to know him more deeply and have believed in him. This may explain why Jesus immediately complimented Peter and affirmed him in his answer, saying to him “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
More importantly Jesus chose Peter to be the rock foundation of the Church made of living stones, referring to his disciples, who will continue his mission until the end of time. He also chose Peter to hold the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, having the same authority of Jesus himself as the way to heaven, and the way to eternal life. And we Catholics believe that Peter’s authority to teach, sanctify and lead the Church did not stop when he died. He passed it on to his successors called the Popes who in turn passed the same authority to each of the succeeding Popes down to our time. This is what we call “the unbroken chain of Papal succession in the Catholic Church.” And according to the Annuario Pontificio, the Church has already had a total of 266 Popes since the time of St Peter including Pope Francis, and 82 of them have been universally recognized as canonized saints. …Pope Francis is Christ really present with us today.
My dear brothers and sisters, today the Lord wants also to stop and rest with us for a while from this very tiring journey of life. He also wants to chat with you and me. And he wants to know how deeply and seriously we have come to know him after all these years, especially after all the ups and downs, twists and turns of our life. Why? It is because the future of his mission depends much on this generation of Christians, on you and me, on our firm faith and on the faith we are able to pass on to the children and the young people of today.
We cannot presume that simply because we attend Mass every Sunday, or that we pray everyday, we already have a deep knowledge of Jesus in our heart. It can happen that our faith in Jesus would simply be based on gossip. Nadungog lang nato sa uban ug dili pa nato nasinati. Kung ingon ana gihapon ta, mura na sad ta og mga “Marites” sa atong pagtoo isip mga Katoliko (Narinig lang natin sa iba at hindi pa natin naranasan. Kung ganoon, para na rin tayong mga “Marites” sa ating pananampalataya bilang mga Katoliko.) When Jesus asked the question “Who do people say that I am” he was definitely not satisfied with answers heard from others. That’s why the more important question we need to answer is “Who do YOU say that I am.” Ang tubag dili puede mogikan sa tsismis, o sa usa ka “Marites” lamang. Kinahanglan gayod nga ang atong tubag mogikan sa atong personal nga kasinatian uban ni Jesus. (Ang sagot hindi puedeng galing sa tsismis, hindi puedeng galing lamang sa isang “Marites”. Ang nararapat lang na ang sagot mo ay galing sa personal na karanasan mo n gating Panginoon…) how you personally experienced him in your life. Kung ang imong pag-ila kang Jesus taphaw pa… Kung mababaw pa ang pagkilala mo sa kanya, at madali kang natutumba, lumulubog at nalulunod sa iyong mga problema kailangan mo talagang mag-deepen o mag-level up sa iyong relasyon sa kanya. And so we all need to encounter him more intimately in his Word, in prayer and in the sacraments, and so eventually grow in our knowledge of him everyday. And the liturgy that we celebrate in church helps us precisely to grow in that knowledge of Jesus that leads to a much greater trust and a much stronger faith in God.
I would like to conclude with this story. Several months ago, I went to Cebu Doctors Hospital to anoint an elderly lady who was seriously ill with cancer. At the end of the Rite of Anointing, after she received Holy Communion, I noticed that her face suddenly lighted up. It has been years since her last Holy Communion. The most amazing part is that today she is not only back on her two feet recovering “in leaps and bounds”, her family has also recovered their faith in the Lord and are back to Church, the Sacraments and other Catholic practices. They keep telling me they will forever be grateful for what the Lord has done for them.
May this Eucharist enlighten us and empower us in our Catholic faith. May it lead us to a deeper knowledge of Jesus that leads to a much greater trust and a much stronger faith in God who loves us and cares for all of us more than we can ever imagine. GiGsss!
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