12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1 Psalm 6:2-6-8-9 Galatians 3:26-29 Luke 9:18-24
This is one of those Sundays when we truly need to listen, step back, ponder, reflect, and finally answer the all- important question Jesus asks each of us: but YOU-Who do you say that I am? This is the real Jesus question,it and our individual answers play a vital role in orchestrating our daily lives.
If we listen carefully the answer begins in our first reading. Zechariah lived at least five hundred years before Jesus walked on earth, yet he announced that from the house of David “they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, …and they shall mourn him as one grieves over a first born.” So from among David’s heirs one will be singled out…is this not Jesus?
Zechariah goes on to foretell of a purification…could this not be the promise of a Baptism for we are told of “a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness...” Can we not see this as the water of Baptism and the remission of sin or as the gateway to a new life as a disciple of the Lord?
Love is all about relationships and in our Responsorial Psalm we sing of a “thirsting for the Lord.” When we love another, we are happy to be in the other’s presence; our hearts sing for joy; our lips proclaim our love, and our thoughts turn toward our Beloved. Do we ponder our relationship with Jesus?
Do we consider Jesus a close friend? Is He the one we long to have in our lives?
Then in our second reading St. Paul reminds the Galatians (and us) that at Baptism we are “clothed with Christ.” This is the Jesus to whom each of us is special-Jew or Greek, slave or free…we are all equal. While at Baptism we are “clothed with Christ” it is our task to live “as if” we have truly put on Christ imitating the way Christ lived; then we will know the answer to this important question, for our lives will reflect our beliefs.
And in the Gospel where Jesus asks the question, we hear Peter’s answer, but today we must construct our own answer. Is Jesus our WAY? Do we try to follow? Is He our TRUTH? Can we say Yes, Lord, I believe? And is He our LIFE? Is our faith a source of strength and joy?
Do we grasp that Christ gave His life for us? Do we long to see His face? Do we love our neighbors as we love ourselves? Can we honestly answer this Jesus question? Sister Miriam Catherine Nevins, OP