22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ August 30, 2020

My Dear Friends in Christ,
The last several weeks the Gospel has addressed the theme of faith. Peter sank into the sea when he was distracted by the storm and took his eyes off Jesus. Jesus asked him and the other Apostles, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” in contrast to the disciples’ weak faith, the following week’s Gospel showed the strong faith and perseverance of the Canaanite woman who wanted her daughter to be healed, pleading, “Even the dogs get the scraps from the master’s table.” Jesus marveled at her faith. Last Sunday, we heard of Peter’s confession of faith: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI called a “Year of Faith,” which corresponded to the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Theologians distinguish between the content of faith and the act of faith: the fides quae and the fides qua. The content of the faith (what the Church believes) is very important, and it’s all there in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. However, Pope Benedict XVI was quick to point out that “knowing the content to be believed is not sufficient unless the heart, the authentic sacred space within the person, is opened to grace that allows the eyes to see below the surface and to understand that what has been proclaimed is the word of God.”

By the act of faith, we choose to entrust ourselves fully to God in complete freedom. That is why study is never enough. Faith is to be lived, which means not only having a deeply personal faith but also giving public witness to that faith. Thus, to profess our faith is both personal and communal.

Pope Benedict described faith as “choosing to stand with the Lord so as to live with Him.” This ‘standing with Him’ points to the reasons for believing, but in believing and accepting the gift of faith, in taking our stand, the person accepts “social responsibility” for what he or she believes. Faith is taking a stand with the Lord personally and publicly.

But are we willing to do so, when this standing with Him involves suffering? Today’s Gospel is the continuation of last Sunday’s, which highlighted the profession of faith of Peter, the “rock” upon which Christ was to build his Church. In stark contrast to last week’s confession of faith, we hear of the reaction of the same Peter when Jesus reveals to his disciples that He will have to suffer, be killed, and rise again. Peter takes Jesus aside and reproaches Him because this simply cannot be allowed to happen to Him. But Jesus rebukes Peter with harsh words: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.”

Reflecting on this passage, Pope Francis says, “A moment before, the Apostle had been blessed by the Father, because he had received that revelation from Him; he was a solid ‘rock’ so that Jesus could build His community upon him; and immediately afterwards he becomes an obstacle, a rock but not for building, a stumbling block on the Messiah’s path.”

The term Satan means adversary. Yes, the evil one is a cunning adversary who throws up obstacles to God’s plans for our lives, usually in the form of sin and temptation, but the adversary would be defeated by Christ’s Cross – through His very suffering. The Apostles, of course, at the time could not see it; they did not understand. They still had a long way to go.

We are like those Apostles! We are bold with the profession of faith with our lips but often falter in the face of temptation and suffering. After rebuking Peter, Jesus reminds the Apostles (and us) what it means to be a disciple: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Once when I was in an Anglican church in York, and the Anglican vicar was lamenting how no one came to church. He hired a consultant to advise him how to lure young people to church. The consultant pointed at the crucifix and said, “Well, that has to go.” Many want Christ without the cross. They desire an easy comfortable religion and “cheap grace.” Jesus reminds us that His way is the way of love, and that there is no true love without self-sacrifice. It is tempting to have the rituals and vestiges of the former glory of Christianity – the trappings and culture – but without the sacrifice, but it is precisely by the cross that we are saved.

Jesus exhorts us: “whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” As the Holy Father says: “This paradox contains the golden rule that God inscribed in the human nature created in Christ: the rule that only love gives meaning and happiness to life. To spend one’s own talents, one’s energy and one’s time only to save, protect and fulfill oneself, in reality leads to losing oneself, i.e. to a sad and barren existence. Instead let us live for the Lord and base our life on love, as Jesus did: we will be able to savor authentic joy, and our life will not be barren; it will be fruitful.”

At each Mass, we offer the sacrifice of the Cross – the sacrifice of Calvary in an unbloody manner – for the living and the dead and for the salvation of the world. On the Cross, the Redeemer loses Himself completely yet finds Himself in the loving embrace of His Father. He loses Himself so that He can come to us once again as the Food from Heaven, nourishing us so that we may boldly take steps on the path of discipleship. Recently I have finished a book, St. Ignatius of Loyola: The Pilgrim Years by James Brodrick, S.J., and it helped me to realize how much of the life of faith is a pilgrimage. Sometimes, we are like Peter making a profession of faith and moving forward by leaps and bounds; other times, we take two steps back. The important thing is that we continue – continue together – our pilgrimage of faith!

Along this journey, allow me to offer a few words of thanks. I want to thank Bob Buchman and the festival committee. Although we had to cancel our festival last weekend, the Main Award drawing was highly successful. Thanks to all who made it successful and thanks for your generosity. As you will see elsewhere in the bulletin, the festival committee has been generating novel ideas for fund raising and community building.

I also want to thank Skip Schoettmer and all those involved with the golf outing which will be held on August 31st to raise funds for tuition assistance for our school. I am grateful to our school administration and staff who have courageously taken their first steps forward in helping our young people get back into a rhythm of prayer, study, and socialization.

Finally, let me also thank Emily Branscum, our Youth Minister. Despite the pandemic, she has done a remarkable job in invigorating our junior high and high school youth groups. They will be holding their “Amazing Race” Kickoff Event on the 30th. We continue to be inspired by the faith lives of young people!
– Fr. Fernandes

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