If the home that you grew up in was like the one in which I grew up in, you might have heard things like this said to you as a young person:
“If you eat your vegetables, you can have dessert.”
“Finish your homework and then you can watch television.”
“If you get a good report card, you can go to camp this summer instead of summer school.”
Hearing things like this as we grow up, can lead some of us to think that life is fair and that if we are good, good things will happen to us. In fact, for some Christians, one of the very difficult challenges in life is trying to understand why it is that if they pray and follow the commandments, it is still possible for bad things to happen to them. For many, there is a sense that faith should act as a kind of lucky charm; protecting them from anything difficult in life. I sometimes think of this as a kind of “Rabbit Foot” approach to faith. It is like thinking that by hanging a rosary from the rear-view mirror of our car, we will be protected from an accident. What a rosary is really intended for is for praying, that we might know that God is with us through all of the different circumstances of our lives.
This Sunday’s beautiful second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews addresses the issue of the Cross. We are reminded that in order to save us, Christ himself endured the Cross. We hear proclaimed the powerful reminder: “Consider Jesus who endured such hostility against himself for us sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart” (Hebrews 12:3). The reason why Jesus endured the Cross is not because suffering is good and something to be taken up only for the sake of suffering. Jesus endured the Cross so that we might know that when we suffer, we have a God who is with us and is capable of interceding for us so that we also might persevere in the faith when suffering comes our way. For Christians, the Cross is a reminder that through it Jesus won for us the Resurrection and the glory of Heaven. What gives the Cross value is that it is Christ, the Son of God, who through it won eternal life for each of us. When we persevere and allow God to strengthen us through the difficult realities of our own lives, then we too will share in the glory of Christ’s resurrection. This is the very fact that the author of the Letter of the Hebrews refers to as he reminds those to whom he writes: “Brothers and sisters: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1). The challenge that is addressed to the Christian through this passage is an invitation to strive for holiness, despite the challenges of doing so in the world, in order to share in the victory that has been won by the saints that have gone before them. We are to look to their example to be strengthened.
The call that is given to us to become saints is one that is given to us in Baptism. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks a little bit about what the call to Baptism entails for Him. We hear the Gospel of Luke recount this Sunday: “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed” (Luke 12: 49-50). Jesus speaks of baptism as something that brings a stress upon Him. He knows that His baptism is associated with the Cross and a call to witness. How many of us think of Baptism as a challenge? Again, I think most parents who bring their children for Baptism think of it as a kind of lucky charm that will protect the new born baby. Rarely, do I ever get the sense that parents think they are sharing their call to discipleship with the child that is being brought to be baptized. And yet, we hear clearly in today’s Gospel, that discipleship is a call to stand for something; even when that something separates us from brothers and sisters and family.
At Mass, when the Lord is present in the Eucharist on the Altar, we are invited to share in the peace of Christ. At this time, we hear: “ Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will. Who live and reign for ever and ever.” It is possible to hear this and think that it refers to a life without difficulties. However, the actual context from which these words were derived was the room in which the Apostles were hiding for fear of the world and possible persecution. As they feared witnessing, and possible persecution from the Jews and/or Romans, the Apostle hid in fear, choosing not to speak about Christ or their faith. As they hid in fear, Jesus appeared in their midst to show them that He had risen and would be with them to help them stand against adversity. Once they realized that He had risen, and that death would not have the final word, the Apostles knew a peace that gave them the courage to go out into the world and be Christ’s witnesses. They were given a peace from Christ that allowed them to persevere through the struggles and adversities of life because they knew that Christ was with them. They strove not to live at peace with the world, but a peace with Christ- knowing that ultimately, true peace is to be found in doing the will of God and living life as disciples of Christ. Knowing this peace, these disciples set out into the world to spread the Good News and face much persecution and sufferings, and at times even death.
The idea that those who follow God are called to stand for something that is different from the world is not something new. Throughout the Old Testament, there are many prophets who speak against the king or the nation and suffer the consequences for doing so. We see an example of this in this Sunday’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. For speaking God’s Word to the people, Jeremiah is rewarded by being thrown into a well, where it is presumed that he will die. Although in this case he is rescued, for many who are called to exercise the prophetic mission, they will only be rescued when Christ raises them up on the last day. This is also a warning that being called to be a prophet, and speaking God’s Word, often does have a cost. Sometimes those who speak this message will only be rewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is why the author of Hebrews calls those to whom he addresses his letter not just to look at the world today, but at the “great cloud of witnesses,” who have gone before us in the faith. Those who have witnessed to the faith are among the saints in Heaven. This is the destiny for which we were all baptized. In the Kingdom of Heaven, we are to hope to live in peace and harmony with Christ and the other witnesses to the faith who have completed their earthly journey. It is not a peace with the ways of man that we are to seek, but a peace with the will of God and His plan for each of us.
I have spoken about this before, but will do so again here because it fits with the theme of prophetic witness that disciples are called to give in this life. When a child is baptized, he or she is anointed with the Oil of Chrism and a prayer is said which states: “Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has freed you from sin and given you new birth by water and the Holy Spirit. He now anoints you with the Chrism of salvation, so that, joined to his people, you may remain members of Christ, Priest, Prophet and King unto eternal life.” This prayer is basically asking that the Christian might share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and kingly mission unto eternal life. To share in Christ’s priestly mission means to offer one’s life in a sacrifice of love to God. The prophetic mission is to speak as a witness in the world to the truth of the Gospel. As one called to build the Kingdom of God, the Christian is also to work for justice and right relationships between men and women—relationships based not on passing values, but those of the Gospel. The same Oil of Chrism is used when a Christian is anointed at Confirmation and God is asked to send the Holy Spirit upon them in order that they might witness in the world as the Apostles did. Like the flames of fire that came down on Pentecost so that the Holy Spirit might be aflame in the hearts of the first believers, Jesus in the Gospel today states that He wishes the hearts of His disciples were on fire with the same Holy Spirit. The Christian today is called to be a witness who speaks the message of the Gospel to a world that might not always wish to hear this message.
The kind of witnessing that we hear Jesus speaking of today is not one that many of us are used to giving. In our culture of political correctness, we are encouraged to say nothing that will upset or offend. When we do speak, we expect that everyone should clap and tell us how wonderful it is that we have spoken the Gospel message. As the scriptures remind us today, there is often a cost to speaking the Gospel message. However, this cost is more than made up for by the reward that awaits us in Heaven.
So often, you and I think that there is a reward to doing good. We expect to see that reward now and in the present. The readings this weekend remind us that there is indeed a reward for doing good. This reward is to be found in Heaven with Christ and the saints. Here, on earth, during our pilgrim journeys, Christ is with us, but at times the only peace that we will know is His presence with us. The Cross is also, on occasion, a part of our earthly reality. The Cross can come in the reality that we are not meant to be here for all eternity and will suffer as our friends and family pass over to Heaven. The Cross may also enter our lives when we do not get everything that we think we deserve or want. As Christians, we believe that Jesus suffered and died, so that we might know that no matter what we suffer, and when we die, we will also rise with Him. Keeping this in mind, may we all take to heart the beautiful words that we hear in this Sundays’ second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews: ““Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12: 1-2).
May God give all of us the grace to witness to His presence in our lives and the courage to persevere when the world does not reward us for this witness to His truth.
Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor, St. Peter’s Parish—Toronto, Ontario
This reflection based on the reading for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time—Year C: Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10; Psalm 40; Hebrews 12:1-4; and Luke 12: 49-53.
