Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
The worldwide fascination with exploring the surface of Mars makes us think long-term. What will we earthlings bring with us as we land and begin to populate new living spaces? We could bring contaminating germs and microbes or positive enthusiasm for new possibilities for building a new lifestyle with room to grow.
It would mean bringing our very best on which we would hope to build. I think this thought challenges us to consider our deepest and truest self. This is the direction our Scripture readings are leading us in today’s Eucharist and throughout the week. There is a slang question sometimes asked in jest, and sometimes to be taken seriously, “and who do you think you are?” It takes us down a peg or two if we have overstepped our boundaries or it can be a wonderful door for personal insight.
Jesus deliberately poses that question to his disciples about himself, “Who do you think I am?” The right answer St. Peter gives in their name is more than repeating knowledge. It is a statement of belief springing from their personal appreciation of the person of Jesus. Personal appreciation is the deepest kind of insight and a gift of the Holy Spirit. For a person of faith, it permeates the mind and heart of the disciple so that it reflects our mentor and model.
If we had to nail it down to one word, it’s all about integrity. No matter what our circumstance or location, we express our best self by absorbing the blessings and gratitude of the past with the humility of having learned from our mistakes. The exciting thing is that it is not something static and rigid but an on-going process of responding and adapting to the new lay of the land.
Our search for integrity will continue in our present world with all the challenges involved but also into the future. We can only be “who we are.” That sounds pretty simplistic. But the fascinating fact is that our union with the person of Christ through His Holy Spirit gives us an outreach beyond our human weaknesses. It allows us to touch and change the world around us. That’s a solid foundation for building a new world, whether here or on Mars.
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources