Father Ryszard Mis SCJ’s 80th birthday was celebrated on Sunday, 6 September, at the principal Mass at St Mary’s Church. After Mass, the celebration continued with a reception in the parish hall.
For many years now, St Mary’s Parish has had the privilege of hearing Father Ryszard’s beautiful and profound homilies. This was also the case on the last Sunday of August, when Father Ryszard preached about following Christ, focusing on three main points: take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow me. We thank Father Ryszard for these years and hope to hear his homilies at St Mary’s Church for many years to come.
Aino Okinyo
Homily at the Principal Mass at St Mary’s Parish on 30 August
Last Sunday we heard Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question: Who do you say that I am? Peter had confessed him to be the Messiah, and Jesus praised God the Father for this. Today Jesus explains to his disciples what being the Messiah means to him: “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.” No, nothing like what the disciples had been planning only a few days earlier, and even quarrelling about, when the sons of Zebedee sought the seats at Jesus’ right and left. Jesus is talking about utterly impossible things here; he is talking about suffering, death… It is all sheer madness!
Well, after such absurdities Peter had to react: “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: ‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan. You want to make me fall. Your thoughts are not God’s, but human.’”
Only a few moments earlier Jesus had said to Peter: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. (—) I will give you the keys to the kingdom.” Peter took those words of Jesus seriously and immediately set to work! So he takes Jesus aside and urges him to change the way he speaks, otherwise the morale of the crowds might fall. Peter, like us so often, wants to teach God how God ought to be God.
Jesus reacts sternly: man, change your way of thinking, Peter, become a disciple! Jesus called his disciples to follow him, and he called us too. But all too often, instead of following the Lord, we try to walk ahead of him. We want to show him the way; we no longer want to follow the path he shows us. We suggest solutions to problems to him and no longer trust in his presence and his action. Sometimes it seems as though we expect God to become our disciple.
In the first reading Jeremiah complains to God. He wanted to be a prophet of good news, but he became an unbearable troublemaker; everyone hates him, even members of his own family. Jeremiah would like to give up. “But when I said, ‘I will not think of him, nor speak any more in his name,’ it seemed as though a burning fire were within me and my bones were glowing. I tried to endure it to the end, but I could bear it no longer.” He stops to think and returns to the flame that has captivated him.
When we put ourselves in the place of God, of the flame, we act like Peter and move away from the path. Jesus does not flatter people, he does not look for easy disciples, he does not seduce anyone or try to market his own ideas. His proposal is stark, direct, even terrible, unbearable. He gives three commands that resound like a difficult challenge.
Do you want to be my disciple? If anyone wishes to come after me: Let him deny himself. That is – do not place yourself at the centre of the universe, do not seek attention at any cost, do not act like others in this world who elbow their way forward, trying at any cost to be seen and noticed. You are a child of God – unique, precious, a masterpiece – why should you have to fight to prove it to others? The disciple, like the Master, cares about the happiness of the person beside him, looks further ahead and puts his life on the line so that everyone may belong to the Kingdom. Do not always put yourself at the centre; put God’s dream at the centre – freely, maturely, as a new person.
Take up your cross. Do not be afraid, then, to love to the point of suffering, to love so much that you lose yourself, like Jeremiah, who cannot tear himself away from God’s burning love even though he has to endure so many disappointments. Unfortunately, a certain superficial piety has distorted the symbolism of the cross: the cross, born as the measure of God’s love, has become a symbol of suffering. God does not love suffering – let that be clear – nor does he demand it, but sometimes loving also means enduring and suffering. And Jesus knows something about that.
Follow me. Make Jesus’ choice your own; make his dream and his plan your own. God is present and reveals himself to us; he guides our choices with balance and wisdom when we listen to his Word and allow his inner voice to shape us. Following Jesus means being ready to change our own perspective; it means knowing the Word and allowing faith to guide our choices; ultimately, it means that our hearts turn and unite themselves with Jesus. No, Jesus is no easy ride. He wants everything. How can one follow such a God? Such uncompromising demands frighten us. That is precisely why we have gradually watered all this down, making it more acceptable, more possible and more reasonable.
But there is very little that is reasonable about God’s love, and often it points towards very high peaks to remind us that together with him we can become true disciples, disciples after his own heart.
A demanding Gospel at the end of this summer – but a Gospel that opens up for us God’s dream for us. Amen.