Deacon Tom Anthony

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 124

Reading 1 Jer 20:7-9

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the LORD has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
for your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Reading 2 Rom 12:1-2

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Alleluia cf. Eph 1:17-18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 16:21-27

Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
He turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct."

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS

 As Christians, we are definitely different. That is something that we will have to get used to as we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ. For the most part, we are tolerated and even looked at with a little bit of respect, but then there are those who will ridicule us and mock us because of what we stand for. These negative actions usually do not come from strangers but from those family and friends who cannot rationalize the person who they knew before Jesus Christ and the person that we have become through him. We will be labeled hypocrites, liars, and far worse as we surrender to Jesus Christ. We can take comfort that this is a normal reaction and not an abnormal one. Expect to be judged harshly and expect to be rejected by the ones who thought they knew us best.

What we will experience from other people who we thought we trusted or who we thought we had some sort of relationship with will feel unfair. Their reaction to us will be foreign and it will hurt. It is ironic, at a time in our lives where we feel that we have a real chance at true joy is when we will feel the most abandoned. This will lead to a serious question: If this reaction by people that we have known is what we receive when we receive Jesus Christ, how good of a relationship did we have with them in the first place? Were they even true friends or confidants in the first place?

Know this: For every person that rejects us because of Jesus Christ, there will be countless more who celebrate with us. Jesus speaks of a time when there will be a separation of the weeds from the wheat. We are actually participants in this process. When we accept the presence of Jesus Christ into our lives, we also accept the position of being workers in the field, trudging through the muck and mud of this world to spread the seeds of salvation to all of those who willingly accept it. Some will need to be watered and nurtured more than others while others will sprout forth immediately and stand strong, ready and able to help us in this task. Being a worker usually means that the hard work that we do gets little or no attention from others while genuine moments of appreciation are few and far between. Yet, the only person’s acknowledgement that should really matter is that which comes from Jesus Christ.

Goodness attracts goodness. Love begets love. Those that oppose that which belongs to Jesus Christ will group themselves together in opposition to us while those who stand with us will make themselves known. When we take a step back from this seemingly confusing set of circumstances and bring it to prayer, things will come into focus. There will be a revelation of sorts where the truth will be revealed to us. In reality, it will be displayed that we are in a far better decision than we were before.

By accepting Jesus Christ into our lives, we are naturally transformed. The way that we see things will be different. Change is difficult to accept, even if the change is good, and there will always be a period of discomfort. The Apostle Paul encourages us to look beyond this discomfort and be encouraged by it. There will be a lot of opposing forces to it, led by Satan himself, but ultimately we have Jesus on our side and He definitely has the best of intentions in comparison to all those we are quick to criticize. We need to remember that whatever is against us has power only when we surrender it, for God is the ultimate power and He is our greatest supporter. In the end, what is there really to worry about? Worrying and anxiety is a tool of Satan and blurs our relationship with God while forcing us to distrust Jesus. There is no need for it. Whatever separates us from Jesus Christ is evil. Whatever brings us closer to Him comes from God.

There are always struggles and challenges. They can be divided into two categories. The first would be the struggles of the flesh where we fight to obtain that which is material, thinking that it will lead to joy. These struggles we have actually created ourselves through our thoughts and actions being grounded in this physical world. The other struggles and challenges are rooted in the spiritual. These are presented before us and we are actually invited to participate in them. It is through these that we can better ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually by participating in them. Totally voluntary, these will lead to transformations beyond what we can possibly imagine. When we embrace these and not run away from them, they will then influence everything that comes before us in this physical life. Our thoughts and decisions will then lead to an abundance of rewards.

Deacon Tom