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August 24, 2008
Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time - Striking Resemblance
During a visit to my home in North Dakota last summer for the celebration of my 50th anniversary of ordination, our extended family gathered for a picnic where we discussed “old times.” Part of the afternoon was spent digging out photos and commenting on what we looked like in those days.
Fortunately, my dear sister had managed to find an early group photo of some grade school students all lined up on the steps of the school that all of us eventually attended. We looked closely at each youngster, trying to remember a name that would go with a face.
Suddenly, someone said, “Hey, Father Clem, here’s a picture of your dad and his two sisters.” And so it was! Someone else said: “You know, you still look just like your dad, same facial features and all.” I looked closely at it but I could not see any resemblance at all. Later, I took the photo home and looked at it more closely. Then I looked in the mirror and finally I said to myself: “By golly, there is a resemblance there.” Hmmm.
It does seem to me, of course, that people other than ourselves can often detect comparisons better than we can. Perhaps we should trust their judgment.
I can honestly say too that I still frequently find myself sing certain words and phrases that I remember my father using. I can almost hear his voice in mine. Astonishing!
Perhaps that tells us that the same genes run deeply in our families and our relationships.
That brings up two issues that appear (at least, for me) in the gospel for this Sunday. The first question: What did Jesus look like? Whom did he resemble? Surely no one like the Renaissance painters made him appear: Pale-skinned, well-trimmed beard, clean, white robe. No, I’m sure he must have resembled Arabic men we often see in photos from the Middle East today.
The other question is this: What was the public perception of Jesus in his time? Surely, he must have raised a lot of eyebrows. Jesus was the kind of person, after all, whom you could not simply disregard. He was different, he did and said prophetic things. Hence, some people probably thought of him as a rabble-rouser a disturber of the peace, a man who could make things difficult for his own people by inciting the anger of Rome. But some also might also have thought of him as a brilliant orator, a worker of signs, a compassionate healer?
Finally, Jesus’ curiosity got too much for him: He decided to ask his closest associates what they were hearing about him out there on the road. Some interesting answers surfaced: “Some people”, they said, “think you resemble John the Baptist, because you say some pretty hard things. You’re pretty tough on people. Others feel that you resemble Isaiah, Jeremiah or one of the great prophets of old. They too were political and religious critics.”
Then came a break in the conversation and Jesus finally asks the “insiders” what they think. After all, they have been with him for some time. Surely, they should have a deeper insight about Jesus than the crowds. Peter jumps in as usual and says. “Actually, Lord, I’m convinced that you are the Messiah, Son of the living God.” For that answer, Peter’s career was locked in. He was on his way to Rome!
Of course, that still leaves each of us with the question: What do we think of Jesus? We already know what the disciples thought. If we can truthfully answer that question for ourselves without being distracted by the various answers the world suggests, then we can be confident that we are truly living stones, part of the Rock who holds us all together. Now that’s a resemblance worth considering.
The scriptures: Isaiah 22: 15, 19-23; Romans 11: 33-26; Matthew 16: 13-20
Posted by Cindy Lentine on August 24, 2008 09:05 AM.
