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Who do we say that we are?

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Occasion: Catechetical Sunday Readings: Isaiah 50:4c-9a; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35 WHEN I WAS A KID, my sisters, cousins, and I liked to shout in wide, empty spaces, from the top of a mountain, or in a tunnel, in order to hear an echo. We found it fascinating that our own voices could sound so funny, as if they regained strength—at least for a while. It seemed as if someone else, down there, were responding, returning the sound to us. Sound experts tell us that for a sound to be so, it needs to enter a medium. Therefore, a sound is not a sound if it is not received. That seems to be the same case with catechesis. Catechesis is an echo of the living Word. What happens when the word is a question? The echo would, naturally, return only the question, and not the answer. Today Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" And the echo keeps on repeating: who, say, I am? There is a new question in the echo. Jesus asks who he is, and the question to Jesus: Who do you say that we are? Then there is a new wave of sounds, with Peter's answer: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And here, again, the echo gives the response. That is, Jesus asks us who he is, we ask him who we are; we tell him our belief that he is the Son of the Living God, and he tells us the truth about ourselves: You are the children of the Living God. Jesus' question is not only for himself. The question seems to be a very frequent one. Everyone wants to know what other people think of them. What do people say about us? What do they think? When we answer Jesus, we hear the answer to the question in our very depths: You are a child of God. It is not a question only about Jesus' identity, but about who we are or who we become in answering Jesus. This could never happen if we did not hear the question and the echo. That is, if there is no catechesis, not only we would never know who Jesus is, but we will not know who we are. Echoes, however, repeat themselves until there is no more energy, and then they die. The living Word, however, cannot return empty until it has given fruit. The echo needs to continue. And it has practical consequences. Echoes, however, repeat themselves until there is no more energy, and then they die. The living Word, however, cannot return empty until it has given fruit. The echo needs to continue. And it has practical consequences. Today's first two readings speak first of the consequences of finding one's identity and then of identity itself. Then Jesus wraps it up, as a good teacher would. No one could simply be. That would be a sound without a medium—that is, no sound. The Christian identity by definition is being for others. People receive an identity for a mission, a work. In Isaiah's reading, the identity is that of a servant. A suffering servant, to be exact. Someone who assumes the consequences of this identity knowing that she or he will be protected. James reminds the readers of his letter that having only faith is like having an identity without an echo. That is almost equivalent to not having an identity. Faith without works is dead. Jesus himself picks up the theme at the end of today's passage, as if saying: You have told me who I am and in me, you are the children of God. Holding on to that, however, without works, without suffering, without being for others, will be equivalent to losing everything. Taking up the cross is just another way of saying putting faith into action, because that action will have consequences. Taking up the cross is looking at all of life as a Christian. Taking up the cross is being for others, with whatever consequences of pain and sacrifice that might bring. Taking up the cross is reflecting, mirroring or echoing the life and the identity of Jesus. It is taking up the mission of Jesus, the work for justice and peace. A cross is painful and difficult by definition. But it is only in that echo that we can find true life, our true identity. Holding on to our own being would mean putting an end to the sound and therefore not being able to listen to the answer. Surrendering it, the sound waves will continue, so that all can hear the questions and the answers: Who do you say that I am? You are the Son of the Living God. We are the children of the Living God.

Authors Carmen F. Aguinaco

Special occasion catechetical sunday Isaiah 50:4c-9a James 2:14-18 Mark 8:27-35

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Word of the Week

24 November 2024

Solemnity

\sə-'lem-nə-tē\

From Latin sollemnis for “fixed ceremonial,” highest-ranking day of the church calendar that celebrates a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, Mary, the Mother of God, or another important saint. Solemnities override every other feast or memorial, including Sundays in Ordinary Time. The church assigns Sundays and solemnities three readings—from a prophet, apostle, and gospel—to instruct the faithful in the work of salvation.

Pronunciation Read more

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