21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
21st Sunday of the Year – Who do you say I am?
I often wonder what we think of when we hear the Gospel readings at mass; what message we take from them and what they may mean to us in our everyday lives.
Today’s gospel begins with Jesus asking the apostles, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” How would they know the answer to this except from listening to the opinions of other people? Remember there was no radio, no television, no media or internet, just the simple spoken and received word.
Perhaps the apostles had spoken with some of the crowds in conversation, after all they responded with a fairly varied list of answers, “Some say (he is) John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus had engaged the apostles in one of the most critical and important processes of the day; he talked and they listened and then when the crowds talked, the apostles listened: questions were asked and answered. Conversation, discussion and exchanging of views happened with and between people.
As for Peter, he offered a different answer. He replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” If we follow the communication norms of the day, we have to ask, where did Peter hear this? How did he know this to be true? Who had he been speaking or listening to, to reach such a conclusion? And it is at this point that we can find the answer, - Christ himself.
It was Christ himself who says, “Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.”
The Holy Spirit had spoken to Peter and he in turn had listened. God had continued the process of making connections, of getting his message across, and in this case had chosen Peter to talk to and with. He talked and Peter listened. He offered and Peter accepted
Recent Gospel readings have spoken to us about Jesus getting his message across to the crowds and his apostles. They have also spoken of his need for peace, quiet, solitude to gather his thoughts together and to listen to his Father.
Today in our modern, wild, noisy, communication-overloaded world, I wonder how we would answer Jesus’ question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” How would we listen to that inner silence when it would be much easier perhaps to look it up elsewhere?
In our search for the answer today, our issue is not about the limited information we can access but more about the filters we need to have in place for the information overload and the slants or spins that others may put on it.
“Who do people say I am”? “Who do you say that I am”? When we look at these questions, we can see that they are not simply required responses to Christ. They are not simply – tell me what you have heard or what you think. They are also very clearly saying, “What do people understand about me? How do people see me? Who is the person of Jesus in my life? How do I live and share my life according to his word? How am I inspired by and open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit? How do I share this with those around me?
I am a little intimidated and quite bewildered by the amount of ways my children keep in touch with their friends and exchange news and views – Twitter, MSN, Facebook, Texting, Phoning and even sometimes actually speaking to each other face to face.
But they are getting their messages across to each other – effectively, regularly and clearly – well for them anyway.
For us here today, we need to look at how we get our message across to others about Christ’s love for us all? We need to be smart. We need to be up to date and we need to be creative. We need to look at the many ways that there are to engage with people and to recognise that we need to use all of these ways to engage successfully with people from all backgrounds, from all ages and ethnicities.
We have worked within our parish to engage with our Christian members of all ages and in whatever circumstances. We visit people in their homes to give communion and to give updates on parish life and to talk about the day’s gospel.
We take the gospel story and break it down so that our children can understand it during our children’s liturgy; to keep them included in our ongoing conversation with God. Where they can learn to listen to what he has to say and to add this message into their lives. This is a very important ministry and one that needs your support: please speak with Liz McIntosh if you can offer any sort of help.
This need will only end when we can all truly, freely, honestly and joyfully say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”
This is the message we receive at our Baptism and every time we come to celebrate the Eucharist. This is the message we need to be spreading in what we say, what we do, what we hear, what we promote and what we challenge, making use of every opportunity and means available to us today. Just as Liz and others do with our children.
Peter knew how and when to listen. He knew when and what to question; he knew who to ask and who to listen to. Peter is the rock upon which the Church is built and the example of listening in action for us to follow.
God is speaking to us all – all of the time. We need to make the time and space to listen and then to act on what we hear. Dear Lord, Help me to make better use of my ears, my heart and my mind to hear you more clearly, then to follow you more nearly, and love you more dearly - day by day by day.
Bidding Prayers
We pray for the Church that it seeks to make most and best use of all means of communicating God’s holy message of peace and love for all. Lord in your mercy
We pray for all church and world leaders that they listen to the needs of their peoples and respond to them with integrity, with care and with speed to bring respite and comfort where it is needed.
We pray for peace in all countries troubled by terror, by war and by violence. We pray that those in key positions come together to talk and to listen and to respond in such a way as to bring peace and an end to suffering.
We pay for our parish here in St Ann’s and St Johns that we look to identify ways and means of working closer together to ensure the continued development of our spiritual health and wellbeing. We pray especially for Father Philip and Father Bernard as they end their time in their current parishes and start new challenges spreading the Good News
We pray for all parishioners – those here this weekend and those unable to leave their homes because of ill health, loneliness, despair, anxiety. We pray that they will be comforted by our prayers and our actions.
We pray for ourselves and offer us the intentions we hold dear in our hearts. We offer these to our Lady and ask for her intercession as we say – Hail Mary…