Adult Peer Pressure?

August 28, 2011
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 20:7-9 - Jeremiah laments but cannot fail to speak in God's name.
Psalm 63:2-6,8-9 - Our souls yearn for God.
Romans 12:1-2 - Paul encourages the Romans to stay faithful to God.
Matthew 16:21-27 - Jesus speaks of his Passion and rebukes Peter for his objection.

At some point in my youth I had heard the term peer pressure until it became trite. "Peer pressure this... Peer pressure that... Avoid, avoid, avoid." Now that I'm an adult, those warnings seem warranted. More than a few of my poor college decisions were the result of peer pressure. Oops! Live and learn, I guess.

The readings this Sunday remind us that peer pressure doesn't end when we reach adulthood. Jeremiah laments that he, even when he tries to submit to the pressures of his society, cannot turn away from God. He says this about when he tries to repress of his desire to speak of God:

But the it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.

The gospel portrays Peter pressuring Jesus to rise up against Israel. To fight against Roman oppression like the disciples thought he would. But Jesus rebukes Peter calling him "Satan" and reminding us that following God's ways are not easy, even our friends can steer us wrong.

Finally, the beautiful lines from Paul's Letter to the Romans reminds us that every generation will face peer pressure:

Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Today, when industrialization is killing our environment, people are starving throughout the world, and we don't think twice about the amount of polution created by eating a hunk of Argentinean beef, we must ask ourselves tough questions. How we conform to this age? How do we allow the pressures of society, government, peers, even (maybe especially) Church, to prevent us from being a living sacrifice, doing what is good and pleasing and perfect in God's sight?  Liberation Theology and Vatican II got it right, we must pay attention to "the signs of the times."  We must face adult peer pressure by recalling the burning fire in our bones for God, justice and love, and be transformed by renewing our minds.

The Doubting Jesus

August 21, 2011
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 22:19-23
Rom 11:33-36
Mt 16:13-20

What Jesus knew about himself and his role in salvation has always bothered me. In high school I remember thinking, "if he knew that his death would save the whole world, how hard could it have been to make the sacrifice?" Allow "high school Mark" some leeway on this because, while the question was a bit naive, it points to a bigger question, the question of Jesus' self-knowledge.

Traditional Christian logic would follow like this: God is all-knowing, Jesus is God, therefore Jesus is all-knowing. This same logic traditionally reads this famous gospel story as Jesus testing his disciples and finding Peter to be his number one pupil. Try a different approach, try reading the story from the perspective of Jesus' humanity.

Hiding out in Caesarea Philippi far north of Jerusalem, maybe Jesus pondered his own ministry. Maybe his thoughts went something like this: First, John, my one-time mentor and cousin, was beheaded by Herod for stirring up the people. Am I next? And the last time I encountered the leaders of my own people, men who I studied with growing up - the Pharisees and Saducees - I insulted them, calling them hypocrites. And recently, while fleeing my homeland for safety's sake, a poor gentile woman kept calling to me, begging that I heal her daughter. When I finally listened, my what faith she had! What is my Father asking of me? Who is God asking me to be?

Is it wrong to think that Jesus's humanity often left him in such doubt, wondering to what God was calling him? Doubt is not a sin, so long as we do not bow to it. When Jesus asked the disciples "Who do you say that I am?", couldn't it have been because he wasn't yet sure? And isn't that what discerning people do - take their doubt prayerfully to those who love them? Today's passage from Romans says: "For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?"

Yet, we scorn ourselves when we doubt. We allow uncertainty and the unknown to haunt us instead of embracing them with a spirit of discernment, asking our friends and familes how they see us. A great lesson from Jesus this week is exactly this: when we struggle to know who and whose we are, we should not fear asking our friends for help. Identifying God's call in our life is never an individual task, but always one in which we need to call up our community. In times of struggle, may we remember Jesus' response to adversity, allowing ourselves the freedom to doubt, and taking those doubts to people who love us.

The Faith of Canaanites

August 14, 2011
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 56:1, 6-7
Rom 11:13-15, 29-32
Mt 15:21-28

A quick preliminary note: In the United States we have an option of transferring Monday's readings from the Feast of the Assumption to the Sunday prior. You may not hear the above readings at mass.

In the Gospel Jesus calls a woman a dog, there's no two ways around it. Some biblical scholars have claimed that in the original Greek the word used was better translated with an affectionate tone, like puppy or lap dog, but they're just evading the truth - Jesus called a woman a dog.

You might not believe me. You might think I'm crazy. "Jesus, divine love incarnate, would not do such a thing," you might be saying. But, according to the the author of Matthew, he did. And, call me crazy, but I love this passage. I love what it says about Jesus' humanity and divinity. I love what that further reveals about God. A closer examination of the reading will show you what I mean.

By the time Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem Canaanites didn't exist. The Jews had seen to their destruction years earlier. Calling someone a Canaanite was like calling someone a Benedict Arnold - everybody knew exactly what you meant and it wasn't very nice. Actually, it's worse than not nice. Calling someone a Canaanite is saying "you're the lowest of the low, you don't even exist."

Jesus was human and accordingly he was a man of his culture, place, and time. Sure, Jesus hung out with sinners, but usually Jewish sinners, not random Gentile women from far north of Israel. Jesus even goes so far as saying, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." That is, not to Gentiles, and definitely not to this Canaanite woman.

But something powerful happens in their encounter. After ignoring her, ordering the disciples to send her away, and then insulting her, Jesus changes his mind. Something in him shifts. Her faith - the faith of the one that barely exists in his eyes - is a mission altering encounter for Jesus. Her faith not only heals her daughter, but widens Jesus' mission from Israel to the whole world.

There's plenty of evidence for this in the rest of the gospel. For instance, just before their encounter Jesus fed 5000 hungry families - all Israelites; but after their encounter when Jesus feeds 4000 more families they're all Gentiles. His vision of salvation grows to include all of humanity because of this women, a woman seen at the time as nonexistent and hated.

If we believe that Jesus is the revelation of God, that Jesus reveals to us Who God is, then the image of a Jesus who changes, grows, and allows for his vision of love to widen tells us that we have a God that does the same. We have a God who hears prayers, especially those of the poor and outcast, and changes His plan for them. We have a God who hears the persistent prayers of a people of faith and adapts to love them better.

When I ask myself how I can become more like Christ, I find myself wondering who are today's Canaanites. What people do I ignore? What people do I refuse to listen to? What people do I ask my friends, family, and coworkers to dismiss on my behalf?

The homeless guy I try not to make eye contact with - Canaanite.

My grandma who lives at a retirement center that I rarely call or visit - Canaanite.

The coworker I ignore or am cold to - Canaanite.

The poor Salvadoran whose land was taken to mine gold for yet another gift for someone I love - Canaanite.

How can I be more aware of these people? What can their faith teach me? How can I grow to love them, and the world, more fully? This is the challenge of the gospel then and today. May it change us like it did Christ.