24th Sunday In Ordinary Time
13 September 2009
First reading Isaiah 50:5-9
The Lord has opened my ear.
For my part, I made no resistance,
neither did I turn away.
I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who tore at my beard;
I did not cover my face
against insult and spittle.
The Lord comes to my help,
so that I am untouched by the insults.
So, too, I set my face like flint;
I know I shall not be shamed.
My vindicator is here at hand. Does anyone start proceedings against me?
Then let us go to court together.
Who thinks he has a case against me?
Let him approach me.
The Lord is coming to my help,
who will dare to condemn me?
Psalm or canticle: Psalm 114:1-6,8-9
Second reading James 2:14-18
Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.
This is the way to talk to people of that kind: ‘You say you have faith and I have good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds – now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show.’
Gospel Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
He called the people and his disciples to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’
Reflection
By Fidji Rivera - Sarmiento
Today's readings are close to my heart. I personally think that these scriptures are a Catholic's armor and shield whenever we are criticized by other religions. James' words were clear as water - Faith without work is dead. We just don't believe that we are already saved. We work for the kingdom of God. In today's Gospel, Jesus did not say that whoever wishes to come after Him must remain seated and just believe in the deepest recesses of their hearts that they are saved. To the contrary, He said that one must deny himself, take up one's cross, and follow Him. Those are active and powerful verbs enough to justify the need to better ourselves daily as we work for the Lord.
On the other hand, Jesus is also asking you today? "Who do you say that I am?" Is He your Lord whom you have placed on the unreachable pedestal? Isa na lamang ba S'yang rebulto sa buhay mo na pinupunasan araw-araw? Or have you considered Him as your confidant, your faithful ever-listening friend? S'ya ba talaga ang Bro sa buhay mo? Have you asked Him to guide you in your decisions, or has He remained in the pages of your prayer booklet? Have you already set Him aside in your home's altar together with the dusty Bible, or do you digest His words sincerely?
Because in the end, our faith is directly proportional to how we see Jesus in our lives. We can only put our faith into work if we learn to know Jesus the way He wants us to.
Dear Jesus,
Reveal Yourself to us in ways that we can understand. We pray that You open the eyes of our hearts. May we quench the thirst within us to know You more. Help us to become aware of the people that You send and the situations that You allow to happen, in order for us to be closer to Your merciful heart. Send us Your Holy Spirit so we can deepen our faith especially in this time and age where science has almost all the answers to every man's questions. All these we pray through our Beloved Mother, Mary. Amen.
Humus
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