Twenty Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 16:21-27) “What Do You See?”
Twenty Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 16:21-27) “What Do You See?”
A fascinating scientific exercise is to study the refraction of light. When we do, we find that light waves can be bent in various ways. When they are, it is interesting to see what happens. White light can become colorful. Also, light waves can be curved to help us see better.
I remember as a child that my grandmother had a lamp that sat in her living room. Hanging from the lamp shade were little geometric prisms. On a typical day, they were decorative curiosities that hung from the shade. But one day when I visited there was bright sunshine coming through the window. The light passed through the prisms on the lamp. A rainbow of color filled the room. The phenomena were an example of light refraction.
I also remember when I was in the sixth grade. I was having trouble reading the blackboard. The teacher noticed my constant squinting. She reported this to my mother who took me to the optometrist. I was not happy to be told to wear glasses, but they have been a useful tool throughout my life. I have been able to see clearly because the lenses of the glasses bent the light waves that hit my retina correcting my vision.
Why do I talk about this today when we are contemplating the doctrine of the cross? Because we have the light of human experience all around us every day. We adjust what we see. Some of the events of our life are pleasurable while others are distressing. If we simply take the happenings or our life labeling them as good or bad based on the values of the world, we might grow discouraged whenever something distressing happens. We struggle with that temptation all the time.
Jesus asks us to look at life in a different way. In the medieval church there was an expression that was used repeatedly in spiritual writing. The expression is: per crucem ad lucem, which means “through the cross to the light.” The expression means that Christianity offers a different way of looking at things. Christians look at things through the prism of the cross.
We all have difficulties that we are going through. Some of us might have a chronic disease that we are fighting. Others of us might be feeling profound loneliness. 30% of Americans live alone, the highest percentage ever. We also might be struggling with economic setbacks. Perhaps we have lost a job, our pension might have lost value, our borrowing might have gotten out of hand. We can have a myriad of misfortunes.
We also might be wrestling with faith questions. Maybe we haven’t had a fruitful prayer experience for a long time. Then again, the church might let us down in some way. The atheistic and agnostic voices that permeate our world might be making sense to us right now. We might be asking, why should I believe? What good does it do?
On the other hand, we might be attacked because we do practice our faith. We are here today worshipping, perhaps family and friends who used to be here aren’t. If they are mad at God, they can project that on us. We can endure ridicule for our charity. We might be the butt of religious jokes.
What we remember is that Jesus warned us that we would have to endure painful life experiences. Christianity, despite what some say, isn’t a religion that says that belief leads to a carefree existence in this world. No, Christianity is a religion that says that most of the time our faith will lead us to the cross. If we can recognize that reality, we can find meaning in struggle. As the expression per crucem ad lucem reminds us Christians look through the prism that is the cross to find the hope that comes with the resurrection.
St. Peter went through this whole spiritual conversion. He first looked at the cross from a worldly perspective. He said the cross is unfair. But then, he saw how Jesus handled his cross in his passion. He then saw that crosses can point to new life. When he saw this, he embraced the cross. He became so convinced in his belief that he asked to be crucified upside down when he was martyred for the faith in Rome years after Jesus rose to glory. Peter’s crucifixion is a reminder that Christian belief can bend the hard realities of helping us to have hope. If we look at life through the lense of the cross, how clearly we can see.
Reflection Questions:
Do I embrace the cross? How?
Do I have family members who do not believe in God? How does that make me feel?
Dear Parishioners,
September 9th and 10th the Diocese of Peoria is having its annual appeal. Each year the parishes have a fund drive that raises money for the various ministries of the diocese. We are assessed a certain amount of money. This year our goal is $105,000. This is lower than last year’s goal of almost $125,000. We might ask why this is the case. It is because the percentage of monies we contribute to Catholic Schools has gone over 50% of our ordinary income. When that happens, we must pay less to the diocese.
It would be great to meet our goal. If we fall short, we must make up the difference from our ordinary income. If we exceed the goal, we will receive a rebate. If we do receive a rebate, the finance committee has decided to put the excess toward debt reduction. Also, if we receive a rebate, it will not be counted as ordinary income.
Can you help us ? Many of you received a mailing from the diocese. Please fill out that pledge card and mail it back. If you didn’t receive a pledge card, please pick one up from the pew and mail it back or put it in the collection.
We have made great progress meeting our ADA goal in the last few years. Let’s continue to be generous so the diocese can fund the needs of seminarians and deacons and may have the funds needed to expand its other ministries.
May Our Lady Pray for us,
Fr. Mark