Homily for Thursday, August 4, 2016

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 16:13-23
Here is God: In You and Me!

Are you looking for God? Many looked for him before you, but they searched wrong places. Generation after generation longed and enquire into the nature and abode of God. They made statues and images, which they worshipped as gods; they travelled land and sea in search of victories and conquests, thinking that God is power and wealth; human beings invented potent medicines for immortality, thinking longevity is divinity; yes, even their bodies were mummified, as immortal-dead, since life itself eluded them and death dealt a mortal blow to their quest for God.

Today, the riddle is solved, a simple statement from our first reading summarizes it: “I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” You who seek God, here he is, in you and me; how close, how near, yet far away, even from myself and yourself. Knowing the answer is no guarantee, though, that we will attain him; there is a prior huddle to cross: I need to conquer myself, so do you need to overcome yourself.

The law of the Lord written upon your heart and mine reduces human plans and intentions to playing second fiddle, “God is first, my neighbor is second, and I am third” (a sage puts it). An encounter with God is first and foremost making God present, this is done and realized through keeping his commandments. God is made manifest in his law; the written law of God is human life, your life and my life. Don’t take my word for it, take Christ’s.

“Jesus said to him in reply, blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Now, there is no biblical written account of Peter carrying any edifice upon his head called Church. So, where did Christ build this Church? The right question is: how does God use metaphor? The faith confessed by Peter was, and remains the rock, on which you and I are built – the Church. Yes, not Peter alone, but all of us who accept and live out the same faith professed by Peter, we are the Church, not an edifice. This is the new law, our faith in Jesus Christ, measured by our obedience to God’s law of love.

The law of God, of our first reading, and the faith professed by Peter, in the gospel, are one and the same – they manifest the presence of God; no wonder Jesus exclaims, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” Oops, did I speak too quickly: “Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” What a tragedy, what an error. Indeed, when you and I fail to listen and obey God, we fall behind God, and Satan takes over. Don’t allow that to happen to you!

The good news is: it is possible to conquer Satan, Jesus did it before, and saints are doing it today, an example is John Vianney, whose memorial we celebrate today. Special intelligence is not required to defeat the devil; otherwise, Jean-Marie Vianney would not have qualified; his weapons were faith, prayer and fasting. Lest I forget, humility was his most dangerous weapon; it can be yours and mine as well.

May God bless you!