Pillars of Faith

Gospel: Matthew 16: 13-19

Today's feast is about two people who are examples of faith, two men who find their way to Rome and meet their deaths at the hands of the Empire.  It is for this reason that their feast is celebrated together on this day in the Western Church.  For these two individuals were two of the most noteworthy members of the first group of Christians to face martyrdom at the hands of the Roman Empire.  For both, such an outcome for their lives was most unlikely earlier in their lives.

Peter was a fisherman from Galilee. He comes to follow Jesus, but struggles time and again in his faith.  He has moments of great insight, but also moments of great doubt and failure.  Yet, in the end he lays down his life for others, like his Lord and Master.  Paul was an avid persecutor of the Christian movement, but finds his way to faith through a personal experience and support from the community he persecuted.  Struggling with his own trials, Paul too will suffer the fate he had once imposed on other Christians.  

Saints are not perfect people.  That's what makes them fascinating and worth knowing.  They become little lights for us that help point the way to the ultimate Light of God in our lives.  Once discovered, this divine illumination, this divinization, transforms our own lives as it did for Peter and Paul.  It too can lead us to great works of faith and mercy, and yes perhaps great witness in death to this faith and the Light that is our Way and Life.   

A Wide Circle

Gospel: Matthew 10: 37-42

Some might read this Gospel portion and conclude that our circle of concern for others is limited to prophets, the righteous, and those who are disciples of the Lord Jesus.  In this interpretation our circle of concern is limited to those close to us - family and friends, fellow church goers, those of our own nation.  This interpretation justifies the mistreatment of foreigners, the marginalized, and those regarded as unclean in our society.  This interpretation would be wrong.

The Gospel of Matthew begins with the Beatitudes and an application of them in the Sermon on the Mount.  When the Sermon on the Mount ends, Jesus descends the mountain and heals a leper, the most marginalized member of society.  Next, Jesus heals the slave of a Roman centurion, a person with no status at all in society in the employ of the hated foreigners who occupy Israel.  The actions of Jesus suggest that we too must serve those whom Jesus himself served.

When Jesus related the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he asks us: which one was neighbor to the one in need? - keeping in mind that such is the way to eternal life.  The one who was neighbor was the foreigner, the enemy of the man attacked by robbers.  Our commitment to show mercy and care to others is for all people, not just a few.  For all are made in God's image and likeness, all are another Christ, all are temples of the Holy Spirit, all are our brothers in sisters in one human family.

Breaking Boundaries

Gospel: Matthew 8: 5-17

These first actions after the Sermon on the Mount are significant.  In yesterday's Gospel portion Jesus heals an utter outcast and untouchable - a leper.  Today Jesus has compassion on the slave of the hated Roman occupiers, a person with no status in society in the employ of one even more reviled and unclean than a leper in foreign oppressors.  Yet, Jesus demonstrates that the love and mercy of God are for all people without distinction.  

But then Jesus does something remarkable.  He heals Peter's mother-in-law, and she becomes the first to serve the needs of others in the ministry of Jesus.  For upon being healed, she gets up to serve others.  The word used in the text is diakonia.  Peter's mother-in-law in effect becomes the first deacon of the community of Jesus, demonstrating model discipleship: the healed - the ones who have received mercy - are then to heal and show mercy to others.  

Meanwhile the modern church continues to create categories and criteria of worthiness in terms of who should be cared for, and who can serve in various ministerial roles.  The limitations of our care for others stand in stark contrast to the unlimited mercy Jesus extended to others.  The exclusivity of our ministry cliques clash with the boundlessness of Jesus in allowing everyone to serve.  If the growth of the church is anemic, it is due to our lack of love and mercy, not in the availability of God's grace.