Today, we celebrate the Twenty-Second Sunday in the Ordinary Time. This Sunday is very special to me because it coincides with the day of my farewell mass in both our communities of Saint Patrick of Placerville and Saint James of Georgetown. I don’t really like farewell time because it’s difficult and very emotional to leave a community, a new family of my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. But, the words of the Book of Ecclesiastes are full of hope when they say, ““There is a time for everything. There is a time to be born and die. There is a time to weep and laugh. There is a time to work and rest. There is a time to arrive and depart.” Now time has come for me to depart where God is sending me to shepherd his people in Eldorado Hills. So, the best thing to do for each of us is not to cry, but to smile and be in the attitude of Thanksgiving to God. As Saint Paul says, “all is grace.” In my homily today, I’ll focus on two main points.
My First point is about the strange path of Jesus’ life
The strange pathof Jesus’ life is what, in Spiritual Theology, is called, in Latin, “Sequela Christi,” which means “The Way of Christ,” or “The Way of the Cross.” The Holy Passion and the death on the cross were the strange destiny that gave sense to Jesus’ life. His birth and his death were intrinsically linked. In other words, Jesus came in this world to give his life in sacrifice as a ransom for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of the world. In this way, the Holy Passion and the crucifixion were the strange and tragic destiny of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Indeed, his Nativity at Christmas was already oriented toward his coming passion. With that connection, we can, then, better understand the meaning of the gifts the Magi brought to Bethlehem during the Epiphany when they came to adore the divine Baby-King of their dreams. They knelt and offered Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.Gold is the symbolism of the kingship of the Child Jesus, who is the King of the Universe. Frankincense is the symbolism of the divinity of this Child who is the Son of God, our Lord. Myrrh is the symbolism predicting the coming passion Jesus, the Son of God, will suffer thirty years later. Jesus’ life without the cross could never be imaginable or possible. Jesus’ life has another name, the cross. The Holy Cross is his own signature. That’s why, in today’s Gospel, Jesus rebukes Peter when he tries to prevent him to accept and embrace his inner destiny of dying on the cross. Suffering his passion and dying on the cross was his vocation. Without the cross, God his Father could not glorify his Son. Without the cross, Jesus’ life would not make sense. As Pope Francis, in his comment of this Gospel, wrote, “When Peter tries to deny the Lord his Passion, the Lord rebukes him. Why? Because Christ’s death on the cross would fulfill the good and pleasing and perfect will of the Father for our salvation. In union with Jesus, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. And no matter how much our sharing in Christ’s cross may make us an object of the world’s laughter and mockery, the love of God is like a fire burning in our heart. True glory is the glory of love because that is the only kind that gives life to the world. It is the life-giving glory of love which Christ reveals on the cross.”
Carrying the cross is one condition to be a true disciple of Jesus
One of the leading characteristics to be a genuine disciple of Jesus is to take up our cross and follow after Him. He says, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Self-denial means to forget our own life, our own existence to give priority to Jesus, to make God be the first served. Self-denial implies fidelity and endurance, to deny ourselves and follow Jesus in fidelity till death. Our life has to be an imitation of Jesus’ life. If the cross is the signature of Jesus, it means that as his disciples we must adopt and embrace the signature of our divine Master. As they say, “Like father like a son; like master like a disciple.” In other words, if the cross is the way of Christ our Master, it must also be ours. Jesus did not hesitate to take up the cross for our sake. Will we refuse to take it up for his sake and for the sake of all those for whom he died? According to Saint Gregory the Great, “There are two ways in which we bear the Lord’s cross: either when we afflict our flesh through abstinence, or when, out of compassion for our neighbor, we make their afflictions our own.” In addition, when talking about “following after Jesus,” Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis said, “To follow behind Jesus means to be wherever He is, whenever that might be, serving Him in doing whatever He happens to be doing. One who follows Jesus makes that other’s journey his own.” Finally, Jesus is right when he says, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It reminds me a famous game called “Checkerboard.” In the Checkerboard, there is a game called “Losing-Winning.” The person who apparently loses the game is the effective winner. So, to win the game, you have to lose. It’s a paradox. Likewise, carrying our cross to follow Jesus presents a real paradox to us. We have to make the choice of Jesus’ beatitudes. We have to accept losing our artificial comforts to embrace Jesus’ priorities, to embrace the way of genuine love, the way of charity and almsgiving to help the poor and people in needs. For example, now in Louisiana, with the Hurricane Laura, many people have lost everything; and likewise in the county of Napa where many people have lost everything in fires. These dramatic situations are a daily cross for these families and the government. We have to show solidarity to carry the cross of poverty and suffering together, to have Jesus’ heart, with compassion, love and generosity. For all our daily crosses carried together with solidarity must be lighter. As Pope Francis said, “The best way for us to take up our cross and follow Jesus is to go to the periphery of the world to share God’s love in helping and serving the poor: homeless, prisoners, unemployed, immigrants. By opening your heart to those suffering, you’ll lose life; but you’ll win the Jackpot that is the Kingdom of Heaven, everlasting life.” I’ll conclude my homily with a prayer-dialogue from Clarence Enzler, in “Everyone’s way of the cross.” That prayer is a dialogue between Jesus and us, at his Second Station of the Way of the cross. The Lord Jesus says, “This cross, this chunk of tree, is what my Father chose for me. The crosses you must bear are largely products of your daily life. And yet my Father chose them, too, for you. Receive them from his hands. Take heart, my other self, I will not let your burdens grow and become too heavy for your strength.”And then, replying to the Lord Jesus, we parishioners of Saint Patrick and Saint James say,“My Jesus, my Lord, I take my daily cross. I welcome the monotony that often marks my day, my discomforts of all kinds, the summer’s heat, in this pandemic time of Coronavirus, my disappointments, tensions, setbacks, and cares. Remind me often that in carrying my cross, I carry yours with you. And though I bear a sliver only of your cross, you carry all of mine, except a sliver, in return.” With your help, I will finally accept the cross become my own signature too, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN. Rev. Pepin W. F. DANDOU Georgetown, CA August 29, 2020.