24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 8:27-35
Homily for 17 September 2006
Fr. Frank Baiocchi

In today’s Gospel, Jesus poses a question: “Who do you say I am?” Because we’re in church this morning, we probably consider ourselves committed to Jesus. We may be Catholic, Lutheran, UCC, whatever, but we are all in some sense “Christians.” Whether we believe Jesus to be God in the Flesh or not, we know for certain that Jesus is special. He gives purpose to our lives; he is the best expression of God’s love for us. He is Master Teacher, Man of Compassion, Wise Rabbi, God’s Beloved One, the Anointed One, the “Messiah” – in Peter’s words.

If Jesus is all this, and Jesus invites us to walk in his footsteps, what’s going on with religion today? What’s going on with us? We are supposed to be living according to Jesus’ Gospel? We are Jesus’ disciples, baptized into his community of faith. Disciples are supposed to learn from their Teacher. What are we learning from Jesus? What is Jesus for and what is Jesus against? Do we really want to find out?

In his book entitled What Jesus Meant, Gary Wills puts it this way [paraphrase]: “Jesus did not come to replace the Jewish Temple with other buildings, whether ice palaces or cathedrals, but to instill a religion of the heart, with himself alone as the place where we encounter God. At first one might think that Jesus would not recognize most of what calls itself “religion” today. But on second thought, it might look very familiar to him because today’s religion too often perpetuates the very things Jesus condemned in the religion of his day: namely, the endless rituals, the burdensome rules, the money demands! No wonder Jesus died at the hands of the religious leaders of his day! He was after all the #1 enemy of that kind of religion!

What kind of religion does Jesus oppose? He opposes a religion that is too proud of its own virtue, like the boastful Pharisee at prayer, a religion that is self-righteous, quick to judge, condemn and exclude, ready to excommunicate and impose heavy burdens rather than share or lift them; a religion that exalts and idolizes its leaders – priests, bishops, elders, televangelists, even popes; a religion that favors the rich and neglects the poor, that pays little attention to the nobodies of society while flattering its power brokers; a religion that promotes the superiority of one people over another, that demeans and belittles women, that prefers image over substance and supports violence as pleasing to God.” Gary Wills doesn’t mince his words!

If this sounds like most every religion we can think of nowadays, then we see just how far religion has strayed from Jesus and his Gospel. Now, back to the original question: Who is this Jesus, and what is it he asks of us? For the answers, we have to read his Gospel well…and understand it… and then live it! Then, and only then, will we discover the answers. But understand something else: if we do read what Jesus says and do understand it and then do live by that Gospel in our lives, we will suffer for it, just as Jesus did! The religious authorities will see to it!