(The following is a homily given of the Solemnity of St.'s Peter and Paul, June 29, 2014)
Today, Our Lord asks us a question: “Who do people say that I am?” It's a question that I think we as followers of Christ can easily overlook. We take for granted that Jesus is the Christ; the Son of the living God. But the question “Who do people say that Jesus is?” has to be answered in order to know why we do what we do; why we are the way we are – as Christians.
Remember a few weekends ago when we discussed the importance of Names; how even today, to know a name means having a power over a person or a situation, and that to give a name means to risk being confined to a specific definition, or even pigeon-holed to the point of becoming wounded, possibly killed. Yet even with this risk, we see that Christ wants to be known – he wants us to speak His Name so that we can relate to him. So to be Christian, then, means that we are called to strive for a relationship with Christ in every time, place, and culture. It means that we must learn to be faith-filled; to be trusting.
On this solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, we are given an example, through theirs lives and deaths of a trust that is an effective instrument of the Good News.
If you will look at the readings for today( acts 12:1-11, ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 2 tm 4:6-8, 17-18 , mt 16:13-19) let's see together at the stories our Church has given us on this day, to reflect upon the witness of these saints to trust.
In our first reading (Acts 12:1-11), we hear of King Herod's persecution of the Christians because of his desire to please the Jews. St. Peter himself was throne into jail, and would have probably met a similar fate as his brother apostle James, had not the Angel of the Lord intervened. “Get up quickly!” the angel tells Peter; “Follow me!” And Peter followed, even though he lacked full knowledge of the situation. In fact, it was not until after his deliverance from prison that Peter could say: “Now I know for certain that the LORD... rescued me.”
In the 2nd reading ( II Tim. 4:6-8, 17-18), St. Paul, who was close to martyrdom at this point, spoke of the crown of salvation that awaited him because of his trust in God. “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” And how did he do this? Not by sitting on his laurels; not by expecting any compensation this world could offer; but by being “poured out like a libation” – a sacrificial offering – to the LORD.
In turn, God stood by him and gave him strength so as to meet the mouths of lions and the threats of evil with the very power of the Almighty. This pouring out – this “self emptying”– was a participation in Christ's own sufferings.
The faith and witness of these two saints reminds me of yet another Greek term: kenosis. This word comes from the Greek κενός (kenos) – which simply means “empty.” Christianity has come to utilize the term kenosis to understand Christ's becoming man.
St. Paul I think explains the term perfectly in his letter to the Philippians:
“Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,[and] becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (see Ph. 2)
In His own ministry, Christ is seen to “remove the scales” from the eyes of His followers in order that they might come to an awareness of his kenosis – his self-emptying – and so realize Who He truly is
– “The Son of the Living God.” the God of complete and overflowing LOVE.
Christ does not politely tiptoe around his identity as God, but forces those around Him to ask the critical question – “Who is He?” , all the while trusting: trusting in their ability and their dignity as human persons to realize and then freely accept the truthfulness of His claim. But the trust of Christ in us comes with a requirement: trust in Him.
This means to follow His way of life, and ultimately to give one’s self entirely to Him. Trust in Christ demands from us a person kenosis – a personal “self emptying.” It requires a personal conversion. But what does conversion really mean?
A contemporary theologian, Avery Cardinal Dulles, describes the idea of conversion as
“a radical shift in a person’s apprehensions and values, accompanied by a similar radical change in oneself, in one’s relations with other persons, and in one’s relations to God.” (See his book Craft of Theology)
This idea of conversion is fundamentally based on relationship and, hence, trust. It is a trust that asks us to “look to the LORD” so that we may be “radiant with joy;” it is a trust that requires that we “glorify the LORD” through our thoughts, words and actions in order that we might be “delivered from all [our] fears”. It is only through this trust that we are even capable of sincere and lasting freedom and personal fulfillment.
St. Peter and Paul gave us a real example of this trust by their lives and their deaths. They emptied themselves completely, in ways that reflected Christ's own life and death. By completely spending every drop of selfishness, they opened themselves up to being completely filled with the blessing, and grace and glory of Christ. They showed us what it means to trust in the LORD; and so gave us a definition of what it means to be CHURCH – a body of believers devoted to personal kenosis – completely emptying itself of its own personal desires to make room for the desire of the Creator: A desire to bring salvation to each and every sinner and saint so that there is no longer be any separation between us and God; A desire to be one with us through our participation in His gift of unfailing love; a desire to lift us up out of our frail humanity into His divinity.
Let us learn to trust in Him who St. Peter and St. Paul placed there own trust, as well as “their lives, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith.” (St. Augustine)
Let us trust in him so that we can freely empty our lives before Him in a sacrifice of praise.
Let us risk everything to be His beloved, because He has risked everything to be our GOD.
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