TWENTY SECOND  SUNDAY-A August 31, 2008

 Jeremiah 20:79 Psalm: 63 Romans 12:12  Matthew 16:2127

A vocation or call from God comes to every person. The most usual call is the call to Married life. But not all have this vocation. Some are called to the Vocation of serving God as a single person. If they enter into marriage, they could make it a success, but they would be very unhappy and sad. Similarly there is a call to the priesthood or religious life. People who have rejected this call are equally sad and unhappy. Some of these have tried to escape by getting married - only to end up in divorce or separation.

Jeremiah had a call. It was a call to be a prophet. It was a call to proclaim God’s message. It was a call that is hedged with all sorts of dangers, rejection, persecution, physical harm, imprisonment and even threat to his life.  Naturally, he wanted to send in his resignation. But the result is disastrous. Not only would he be sad and miserable, but there was, to quote Jeremiah, a fire burning within him which could not be quenched. He had to attend to it, he had to pay attention to it. It was a call for a sacrifice of earthly comfort, earthly security, earthly pleasures and praise.

The vocation to the priesthood and religious life is very similar to Jeremiah. In the professional job, people can see success as a result; a carpenter can see a finished chair or table, a doctor can see a healthy patient, an author can see a book published. But often in the case of the priest or sister, like Jeremiah there is no tangible success.  Perhaps that is the reason why some priests spend a lot of their time building churches. The sacrifice of spending one’s whole life for others and having nothing to show at the end seems too much.  Jeremiah complains about this, and Paul writes about a similar situation in the letter to the Romans.

Not for preaching: only as a background understanding:  (Our reading from Paul is taken from the last portion of the letter to the Romans, ch 12-15. These are a set of ethical codes. For Paul however Christian life is not expressed in moral codes. This way of Christian life is a natural follow up of the understanding of God’s salvation. The generosity and saving power of God is seen in and through Christ. Once we have grasped this salvation history we can act according to the regulations mentioned in these three chapters.)

Paul speaks of the sacrifice of one’s body. This does not resonate with our times. We can relate to offering Masses, making novenas, lighting candles, walking on pilgrimages. But sacrifice one’s body ! No. However sacrifices of goats and lambs were common not only in the Jewish faith but also with other faiths of that time. In some religions there were even human sacrifices to appease the wrath of the gods. Today’s understanding of Paul’s “sacrifice of one’s body” could be seen as a challenge not to be drawn into the razzle-dazzle of earthly society. It is a challenge not to fall prey to the syndrome which demands instant solution to problems, instant success and hedonistic pleasure, a guaranteed glory in this false and fast changing world.  The metaphor of sacrificing our bodies is an expression of a mind that commits a person to God’s promises. These promises are both true and certain, not just possible or probable.

Peter in our Gospel is typical example of this vacillating world. He has just been praised by Jesus in last Sunday’s Gospel.  He has been lauded for his

• confession of Jesus: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God
• his attentiveness to the inspiration of the Spirit. What he confessed was revealed to him by the Father.
• he has been given the mantle of being the Rock on which the church is founded.

In a similar manner, we too who have been baptised share in the honour given to Peter by our baptism. However, Peter shows the other side of his personality today. Paul would describe such an action as: “the good I want to do, I do not; the evil that I want to avoid, is what I do in reality.”

Peter does not want to encounter unpleasantness or a disagreeable situation. When Jesus speaks of the cross, Peter’s yellow streak, Peter’s vacillation comes to play. He wants to avoid pain and public humiliation. He wants to distance himself from the announced Mission of Jesus: “far be this to happen to you.” Like Jeremiah, Jesus will suffer; not only will he suffer, he will also die. Peter finds this too hot to handle. No cross, no suffering, no death - this is Peter’s belief and his advice to Jesus. Let us change the channel, let us move to another subject.

Temptations like these are common in our lives and response like Jesus have to be quick. Get behind me Satan. The longer we delay, the easier it is to be caught in the quicksand that will consume us.

• answering our vocation
• stopping an unhealthy relationship
• saying “NO” to the first glass of alcohol, the first offer of a bribe, or the first high cholesterol meal.

If we nip the temptation in the bud. “Get behind me Satan” we have a chance otherwise like Jeremiah we will have a burning fire within our bones, a weariness from saying No to the Lord.

Appendix: Our Christian Journey is not a smooth sailing on a calm sea. There will be all sorts of obstacles from outside: our very own church members who see things differently either in a liberal or conservative manner. Or they may come from inside:

• difficulties in our faith
• a tsunami of emotions
• fears of new turns in the road or uncertainty of the future
• loosing our own personal sense of direction
• feeling we have made a U-turn on a one way street.

Jeremiah, Paul and Jesus had the same experience. Jeremiah would accuse God of deceiving him, seducing him. Paul would confess that he does the evil he wants to avoid. Jesus would pray, “let this chalice pass me by.” All of them faced scandals on their journey. Faithfulness on our journey, in our vocation means like Peter in last Sunday’s Gospel, being faithful to our inner inspiration and conviction. This makes the journey - life giving, exciting and daring. On this path, the Spanish prayer is so apt: “Vaya con Dios.”