XXI Sunday of the Year

PERFECTED IN WEAKNESS

Isaiah 22:19-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20

Readings for the XXI Sunday of the Year

Duke Ellington – composer, pianist, and conductor – composed with each musician in mind. He said: “You keep their weaknesses in your head as you write, and that way you astonish them with their strengths.”

That’s the way God works with the leaders he chooses and with us: he keeps our weaknesses in mind and astonishes us with our strengths; he perfects us in weakness. 

But why does God choose people with faults and foibles as leaders? 

We have a response in this Sunday’s gospel! In response to Jesus’ question about his identity, Simon acknowledges him as the Christ. Jesus gives Simon a new name: Peter; and a mission: the foundation for the Church.

What kind of a foundation was Peter? 

Soon after being named ‘rock’, Peter misunderstood the nature of Jesus’ mission. During Jesus’ passion, Peter denied him thrice. After the resurrection, Peter could think of nothing more productive to do than to return to fishing. Twenty years later, he withdrew from table fellowship with some Christians because they were Gentiles. By nature, Peter was not rock!

But the weak and human Simon became rock when he was open to divine revelation (“Blessed are you, Simon”), and when Jesus prayed for him (“Peter, I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail”). After Pentecost, Peter fearlessly proclaimed the gospel. He was imprisoned, tried, tortured, forbidden to preach… he did not stop preaching! Through grace, Peter became rock.

There is something of Simon in all of us. We misunderstand Jesus’ mission and words; we deny Jesus; we get engrossed in our career and work… 

Yet God keeps choosing us, with and despite our weaknesses, and strengthens us to be his church. He perfects us in weakness. We will be rocks when we recognize our radical need for God and his grace.

Will I open myself to his grace? Will I allow him to perfect me?

XX Sunday of the Year

MOVE THE FENCE

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28

XX Sunday of the Year

During the WWII, a small group of soldiers lost a buddy and wanted to bury him in a proper grave. They searched the area till they found a church with a cemetery (which had a picket fence). They found the parish priest and asked to bury their friend in the cemetery. The deceased was not a Catholic. The priest expressed his sympathy but said the cemetery was reserved for Catholics. He asked the soldiers to bury their friend just outside the fence and assured them that he would care for the grave.

One year after the War, they met and decided to visit their buddy’s  grave. They found the cemetery but couldn’t find the grave. The priest saw these men looking around and went to meet them. He told them that it didn’t seem right that the soldier was buried outside the cemetery. “So, you moved the grave?” asked the friends. “No,” said the priest, “I moved the fence.” 

Today’s liturgy challenges us to “move the fence” so that we can move beyond barriers and boundaries.

The Canaanite woman overcame three religious-cultural barriers to approach Jesus: she was a woman (in Semitic culture, women did not approach men); she was a widow; she was a foreigner/ gentile. She overcame three barriers from Jesus: his indifferent silence; his statement about his mission “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”; his rebuke about not throwing children’s food to the dogs. 

Nothing could deter the woman. Her persistence persuaded Jesus to “move the fence”, to go beyond boundaries—gender, ethnic, religious, and geographical—to cure her daughter.

The woman is a Canaanite but addressed Jesus as “Lord” and “Son of David”. Matthew thus presents her as a disciple and emphasises that discipleship is not restricted to Jews; it is open to anyone who believes in Jesus. Matthew affirms that God’s grace is not exclusive/ restricted; one needs only an open heart to receive it.

Isaiah (first reading) announces God’s intention to extend Israel’s privileges to all foreigners who love the Lord and join themselves to him. His house is a house of prayer “for all peoples”. 

Paul (second reading) emphasises that God’s mercy is for all, whether Jew or gentile.

In an age of growing communalism and nationalism, we need this reminder of God’s universal love and imitate him.

Do I reach out to all people beyond gender, class, race, or religion? How will I imitate God in going beyond barriers and boundaries? Will I move the fence?

XIX Sunday of the Year

AMID THE STORM

1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33

Readings for the XIX Sunday of the Year

We are amid one of the greatest storms of our lives – the coronavirus is still around with new variants; inflation and unemployment; natural disasters and violent conflict in several parts of the world; growing hatred and intolerance. Many of us are overwhelmed. 

The readings of today feature people who are overwhelmed by events in their lives. Amid chaos, they experience God’s abiding presence.

The first reading features Elijah who had to flee into the desert to escape the wrath of Jezebel. There he encounters an angel who comforted him and gave him food. On the strength of that encounter, he journeyed forty days to Horeb, where he faces more chaos:  a strong wind, an earthquake, a fire. Then he experiences the presence of God in “a tiny whispering sound”. Elijah’s flight to Mount Horeb ends with an encounter with God.

Paul (second reading) is overwhelmed with sorrow that his fellow Jews had not accepted Christ. His faith is steadied by recalling God’s irrevocable gifts to Israel.

The gospel features the disciples caught in a terrible storm which swamps their boat. When they are in disarray, there is more chaos and fear; they see a ghost. It is Jesus who reassures them: “It is I (literally I am); do not be afraid.” These words would have evoked memories of Yahweh’s revelation to Moses (Exodus 3:14). The disciples’ crossing to the other side, interrupted by a destructive storm, ends with an encounter with God.

When destructive forces assail me, let me walk on like Elijah; when the storms of life engulf me, let me keep battling them like the disciples. The Lord is with me to sustain me. And at some point, perhaps when I reaches the “depths”, I will encounter him. May the storms of my life cease with an encounter with God. Then, like Elijah and Peter, may I walk on.

The Transfiguration of the Lord

A MOMENT OF GRACE

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9

Readings for the Transfiguration of the Lord

Eric Carle, the author and illustrator of children’s books, recalls that he was a shy six-year-old when the storytelling world opened for him:

“The world seemed a cold and confusing place, except for one thing—a picture of a cityscape that faced my bed: red brick buildings with darkened windows, except for one exploding with the joyful colours of a Christmas tree. The picture was the work of an art director at my father’s job.

Once, my father took me to work. I was so shy I could barely speak. The art director smiled, opened the drawer of his drafting table… a treasure of coloured drawing pencils, and said: ‘You can use them all.’ 

I had no language for what I felt. Today I would call it grace.”

For Jesus and the three apostles, the transfiguration was a moment of grace. 

The transfiguration confirmed for Jesus his identity: In the experience of prayer on the mountain, the Father reveals who Jesus is: “This is my Son, the Chosen One.” 

The transfiguration confirmed Jesus’ saving mission: Luke gives the content of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah. “They… tell him about his departure (or exodus) that had to take place in Jerusalem.” The exodus of the Hebrews was a struggled-filled journey; so will it be for Jesus! The transfiguration gives him a foretaste of his glory and strengthens him for his journey to Jerusalem.

The transfiguration showed the apostles Jesus’ identity: Peter, James, and John realise that this is no carpenter; no preacher or healer or miracle-worker; this is God! 

We have moments of grace: in prayer, in encounters with significant people, in key life events. God is present within us to affirm that we are his children and to confirm his will for us. 

Let me recall some of these! Do I see these as “transfiguring” moments; as God’s reaffirmation of my identity as his child? Do I allow God’s grace to transfigure sadness into joy; despair into hope; fear into faith and courage; isolation into communion?