August 5, 2010
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:33-34
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:13-15
Piety
78. Who is the Savior of all men?
The Savior of all men is Jesus Christ.
79. What is the chief teaching of the Catholic Church about Jesus Christ?
The chief teaching of the Catholic Church about Jesus Christ is that He is God made man.
80. Why is Jesus Christ God?
Jesus Christ is God, because He is the only Son of God, having the same Divine nature as His Father.
(From the Baltimore Catechism, Lesson 7, The Incarnation found online at http://www.catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/lesson07.html)
Study
“But who do you say that I am?”
M. Basil Pennington writing in the introduction to his series of meditations, Living in the Question: Meditations in the Style of Lectio Divina (New York: Continuum Books, 1999) reflects on the questions posed in our faith journey and concludes: “We don’t have all the answers. We do thank God, have some answers. But answers that give birth to far many more questions.”
Father Basil grew up like many of us with that volume “affectionately” known as the Baltimore Catechism. We learned our “faith” by studying (memorizing) these questions and answers. If you are in that generation, you probably still remember some of the content drilled into us in school or religious education by nuns wearing long black habits. Fr. Basil takes exception to the pat answers doled out there because Jesus is not looking for us to repeat back to him some pat answers.
The answers are there. Right there in the Baltimore Catechism are answers to questions about Jesus. But these answers might not have done Peter much good. Jesus was not asking “Who does the Baltimore Catechism say that I am?” Jesus only asked about who others were saying as the lead in to find out Peter’s answer, your answer and my answer.
However, when we study the Bible, we find questions. Questions from Abraham. Questions from Moses. Questions from Isaiah and the prophets. Questions from Jesus and questions to Jesus. It is only in our own personal journey toward God that we might find the answers. And then some more questions.
Action
Cursillo leads us to come up with answers on our own. The three-day weekend (which starts tonight for the 131st Women’s Cursillo in the Diocese of Arlington) helps us to confront questions of like “Who am I?” “Who is Jesus?” “What is my role in the Church?”
Look back on the notebook you kept during your three-day weekend. If you have not had that experience, think about how you would have answered Jesus five or ten years ago. How would you answer him today?
Pray for the candidates on this weekend that they may meditate on life in the love of the Lord and find some questions for their answers. All, from least to greatest, shall know me.
