12th Sunday June 20 2010
Have the mind and heart of God! Father’s day Celebration!
Once a father was trying to teach his young son the evils of alcohol!
He put one worm in a glass of water and another worm in a glass of whiskey. The worm in the water lived, while the one in the whiskey curled up and died.
"All right, son," asked the father, "what does that show you?"
"Well, Dad, it shows that if you drink alcohol, you will not have worms in your stomach."
Interesting answer! Father was trying to teach the child a good lesson but the child took a wrong message.
How can I as a father be a good message? How can I save my life?
There are three things one must do to be a message and to save his/her life:
The famous singer Madonna has never failed to surprise or even shock her audience. On June 18th 2004, she offered a fabulous interview with back. Her last world tour was called, “Reinvention.” When asked what she was doing right now this is what Madonna said, ‘Just liberating myself from my ego.” She even renamed herself in the process of liberating herself. She went through all the names in the Bible and chose Esther, because Esther risked her life to save the Jewish people from annihilation. As she said, she was tired of drawing attention to herself by taking off clothes and doing out of the way acts. Now at 45, it was time to liberate herself from her own ego. She regrets turning the apple cart because at the end of it all, all people see in the turned apple cart. She said she did not offer any alternative so that at the end of it all she only succeeded in creating confusion. She wants to change all that. The solution is to liberate herself from her ego. This is the self-named ‘rebel’ who did rebellious things like taking off her clothes for the sake of doing it. Her family life with Guy Ritchie and her two children is so contrary to the rebel image she revelled in that at 45 it seems that Madonna is indeed getting ‘smarter.’ At least that is what she said. Compare Madonna’s words with that of Jesus: “If any one wishes to come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
There are two things at play in the words of Jesus and in the interview with the now ‘smarter’ Madonna: the self and the other. For Jesus this other is God and other people. In Madonna’s case it is not clear who the other is but she sure knows that the way to liberation is freedom from the self.
1. Know yourself! Confess Christ!
Let me begin with the most important question that a human being can be asked. The most important question that one can be asked in not ‘Will you marry me?’ or … “Is this your final answer?’ The most important question that one is asked comes from Jesus and the question is the same question that Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” That is the question Christ is asking us today. And we must answer that question in prayer. Some people call themselves Christian but there is nothing Christian about their lives. Other people call themselves Christian and they even come to church every Sunday. But once they leave church relegate Christ to their private life and live as any other unbeliever. Their language, their activities, their entertainment and their priorities do not reflect their faith. And then there are those who do not have to strive, but in the choices they make and the life-style, in the way they treat people especially their enemies and the poor confess their faith in Christ. So Jesus asks, Who do you say that I am? We do need to give that answer.
2. Deny oneself
Jesus says to us today, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” The moment Peter confesses Christ, Jesus beings to reveal to them about his identity as the suffering messiah. It is the route to self-denial. Look at the fruit of that self-denial-our salvation. If only Christ is did not deny himself, he would be another life that just lived and died. It was also his self-denial that made the resurrection possible. Without his self-denial he would be another life that lived and died. And so will we be if we do not deny self. If at 45 Madonna is talking about liberating herself from her ego. In this age where we are encouraged to pamper ourselves, perhaps Madonna has finally understood the paradox of life.
3. Follow me
Jesus says to us today, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Follow me can mean two things. One meaning is to believe in Christ and his teachings. Or follow me can mean do what Christ did. I want to take the second meaning. But let me take the inspiration from today’s second reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Galatians. St He says, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Look at what our clothes do to us. It hides our nakedness. It hides us. What people see is our face and our clothes. So when St. Paul says, “Clothe yourself in Christ,” and when Jesus says “follow me,” it means that we follow in such a way so that when people see us they do not see us, but like our clothes, they see Jesus. Let our actions be our clothes; let our relationships and the way we treat people be our clothes; let our prayer be out clothes; let our commitment to this community be our clothes.
This Eucharist is made possible by the self-denial of Christ. This is the sacrament of our salvation. Let us confess our faith in Christ and attain our own redemption.
