24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) 12th September 2021

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The reflections for Sundays and Solemnities is an activity of Society of St Paul, India
A Reflection by:
Fr Vincent Carmelbhavan,
SOCIETY OF ST PAUL, MUMBAI, INDIA.
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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
On this twenty-fourth Sunday of our Liturgical year, today’s Readings invite us to take a fresh look at the quality of our faith which we profess as Christians and as disciples of Christ. … In today’s Gospel, when confronted with a question from Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?”… Peter declared: “You are the Messiah, the anointed one of God”. And Jesus immediately clarified what that answer meant. That is,… Christ had to be rejected, he had to suffer and be killed by his own people. … In our First Reading we heard prophesies concerning this Messiah: “I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spittle.” ---
Peter had expected Jesus to be a triumphant, victorious conqueror. He could not accept a weak Jesus, a suffering servant who would suffer and die for the people. … So Peter tried to stop Jesus from choosing this difficult path of service, suffering and sacrifice…… Jesus retorted with anger, “Get behind me Satan!....” Jesus had never called anyone Satan in his life. Why did here, Jesus call the leader of apostles Satan? Jesus made it clear to Peter: “Because your mind is not on the way of God, but of men, or of world, or of Satan. You are a hindrance to my way and my Father’s plan…”. …
Today Jesus wants to test the quality of our faith. St James in today’s Second Reading tells us that faith is not about membership in the Church, or about memorizing the creed and knowledge of the dogmas. St James asks: “What good is it, if someone says, he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled’ without giving anything needed, what good is it, or what kind of faith it is?”……….
My dear friends, the answer to the question of Jesus to each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” is to be answered NOT by our mouths, but by our hands, … not by our words, but by our ACTIONS.….
To be a true believer of Christ is to manifest Christ who loved everyone, who served everyone in need, and who suffered and died to liberate everyone from the evils that people suffer today. To be a believer in Christ is to live like Jesus: a life of service and generosity to our family, to our neighbours, to those in need, to those who are sick, and to all the people around us.
St James tells us, “Faith without action is dead.” … What are the acts of faith? The acts of faith are … compassion, forgiveness, … generosity, … encouragement to the weak and to the young, … making them realize that they are loved and cared for by God. When our faith is animated with acts of love, … we shall see miracles, wonderful things happening around us. ….When we act with charity, when we serve others selflessly and generously, their lives will be changed….. and they will encounter Christ in us…. They will understand who Christ is!
When we serve others, our love for Christ grows deeper and deeper. When we serve others, our love for each other increases and we spread more love in society like Mother Teresa and other saintly people. Then people will know that not only Jesus is risen and alive, but also that Jesus is alive today in you and me.
So our good works will perfect our faith in Jesus. Turning to ourselves we must ask : “What do people say that I am?” What do they say about our Christian calling and faith in Jesus?
May the Lord take us forward with his grace to live our Christian faith more authentically with our good works. … God bless you! … Thank you!