This journey towards God and his kingdom, through/with/in Jesus, is always
relational. Jesus is the Good Shepard, but we are naturally full of;
misunderstanding and limited thinking, failures, misgivings, inconsistencies and even
detours.
As St James says in the 2nd reading, what good is
it to have faith without works? If you tell someone go in peace, keep warm and
eat well, but do not help them obtain some peace, some warmth and some food,
your words (and your faith) remain unrealized and empty. Show me your faith without works, St James challenges us, and
I will show you my faith by my works. It is clear, we do not have Faith unless
we do Faith.
It is like love for another. It always begins with some
undefined inner movement. Yet, this inner movement attains its own truth and
reality when it is embodied and expressed. I “love you” only has meaning when I
“do love” for you.
It’s like the inner
solidarity among all human beings being realized only when we sit down and
break bread together.
To follow Jesus is not following at some distance. To follow
Jesus is to accompany Him, solder to shoulder. It is relational and deeply fraternal. But, He does not
ask us to copy or reproduce his life. We
are not the Son of God, though we all are children of God. We live in our own
history with different responsibilities and obligations. Jesus’ life, death and
resurrection is not an example, it is Truth, and this truth sets us free.
God opens our ears so we can hear the truth and we are
challenged to do the truth in our lives. And doing truth is rarely easy.
According to Isaiah, doing truth often means, when necessary, giving our back
to those who beat us, our cheek to those who would hurt us, not hiding our face
from those who spit on us. Grace, in this world, does not come cheap.
But, responding to God’s Word and doing his truth is never
shameful, disgraceful or cowardly because it is always right and just to stand
in opposition to a world gone mad.
Our answer is as personal as the invitation was. It requires
a gut level response that defines and orients our journey towards the kingdom.
It orders our relationship with creation and all peoples. It structures our
relationship to Jesus, as Lord, as we cry out, as Peter did - you are the
Christ.
But, what we can do is surrender to the mystery of the
incomprehensible God. We can trust in his saving love for each of us. We can
act in Faith, Hope and Love making his kingdom present by our lives. We can
answer daily Jesus’ question - who do you say I am.
Our life is our answer, lived out as a critical stance
against all power that blinds and corrupts, enslaves and oppresses. Lived out
in solidarity with one another, especially with the poor and marginalized. Lived out as a prophetic voice crying out against obscene
privilege and the abuse of the vulnerable, in the world and sadly within the
Church itself. We are broken-hearted, but not broken in Spirit.
We must Live this out, denying oneself and standing outside the
structures of ease and comfort built on the backs of our unknown brothers and
sisters. Lived out as faith in
the face of faithlessness, hope in the face of hopelessness, truth in the face
of lies, and love in the face of the loveless. And, of course, lived out accompanying Jesus, taking up his
cross, as our own.
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