Cycle C - Year II:

19 June 2016: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Gospel: Please read Luke 9:18-24

A challenge of faith!

Because it is the start of a new school year, let us begin our Sunday reflection with a typical classroom incident.

Here is a story of a math teacher and his students. The teacher gave this surprise quiz: "There are five birds resting in a tree branch. You shoot one, how many are left?"

One student answered: "None teacher!" Astonished, the teacher asked back, "Why is that so, if only one was shot?"

"Well, Sir, birds are not stupid. When one was shot, the rest flew away of course." End of the story.

Often, oral exam is tricky and hard, because it gives little time to think for the right answer. But also it can elicit the smartest answer.

The Gospel narrative for this Sunday is like an oral exam for the disciples. Our Lord Jesus was praying in solitude and the disciples were with Him. Jesus tests His disciples with a question: "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They answered Him: for some John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the ancient prophets.

After hearing the opinion of others about Him, our Lord asks the apostles the pivotal question: "But who do you say that I am?"

Always quick to react, Peter answers by professing that Jesus is truly "the Christ of God." Peter

recognizes that Jesus is the one whom the people are waiting for, and that He comes to fulfill the promise of old. Now no mortal being could have revealed this truth to Peter but only God Himself. It was through faith that Peter grasped who Jesus truly was. Thus, Peter has the distinction as the first apostle to publicly recognize Jesus as the Anointed One (meaning, Messiah or Christ). And "Christ" is the Greek translation for the Hebrew word "Messiah". So, Peter was able to pass his practical exam on our Lord's identity, through the gift of faith.

The second part of this "exam" is the requirements or demands for believing in the Messiah. Jesus Himself explained that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die in order that God's work of redemption be accomplished. How startled the disciples were when they heard this part.

And Jesus makes it clearer about the second part of their "exam". He told them, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up the cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."

What do we make of the Gospel narrative in practical life?

Our Lord Jesus tests each one of us personally with the same question in our practical exam, "Who do you say that I am?"

Like Peter we can be as quick to respond that "Jesus is the Christ of God!", that we believe that Jesus is our personal Messiah. Professing our faith in Jesus is the easier part of discipleship.

But Jesus challenges us to go deeper into the very roots of our faith. If we want to share in Christ's victory then we must deny ourselves in love, take up our cross in sacrifice, and follow Him in service.

In other words, who do we say or profess Jesus is in our personal lives is not simply by words alone but by our deeds and lifestyle as practicing Christians. This is the real challenge and it is not going to be easy, when there is the tendency, and the temptation, for some Catholics to be selective on Church's teaching that is convenient to them. But that is why the term is "practicing Christians" because we keep practicing and living our faith until we perfect it.

Do we take up the challenge of our profession of faith in the Lord Jesus?

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!