12TH SUNDAY YEAR C

HOMILY FOR 12^TH SUNDAY “C”

Fr. Thomas Ritchie

According to the story that Luke tells in his Gospel the climax of Jesus ministry in Galilee comes to be about the identity of Jesus. When Jesus calms the storm the apostles ask “Who is this who speaks and even the winds and the sea obey him?” Herod asks “Who is this I hear such reports about?” Now after the miracle of the loaves and fish Jesus asks: ”Who do people say that I am?”. Then he asks the Apostles: “And you, who do you say that I am?” Peter answered: “You are the Christ of God, you are the Anointed one, you are the Messiah.”

It reminds me of a question that I was once asked. I was working in Papua New Guinea running a course for some national prayer leaders. I was answering questions that they put in a question box. I took out one of the questions which said: “Have you seen Jesus or not?” I asked for the man who put the question in the box and he stood up. Then I asked him if he could explain what he meant by his question. He said that last night some of they had sat around a fire discussing what they were doing here. Then he said that they were puzzled about why we missionaries had left our homes and country and families to come and teach them about Jesus. So they thought maybe we had actually seen Jesus and he had told us to come. So he asked the question, “Have you actually seen Jesus?”

I found the question really challenged me deeply inviting me to look into my motivation and to search my faith in Jesus to find an answer for him. “Yes” I told him “Jesus did send us, but we did not speak to us face to face. He spoke to me in my heart and I believed he wanted me to do this.”

Today I think we are all challenged by this Gospel to look at our relationship with Jesus and to ask ourselves who Jesus is for us. Does he truly have a place in my life, in your life? If we are conscious of leading a good life, being honest, being generous, respecting others, not hurting or deceiving others and all because we believe that this is the way Jesus asks us to lead our lives.

The reason why I live my life with love and generosity is because Jesus lives in me and he loves me and we gather today because that is true for us. We are here to meet Jesus, to spend time with him, to learn from him, to be united with him.