Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

August 31, 2008

Homily for the Anglican Usage Mass

of the

St. Thomas More Society

celebrated at

St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church , 1013 Wood Street

Scranton, PA

Matthew 16:21-27

            In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen

            In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard about the confession of St. Peter from which we learned (1) Jesus is the Son of God; (2) He has founded the Church to continue His mission to restore all things; (3) St. Peter is the rock upon whom the Church is founded; and (4) the Church will remain on earth until Jesus has come to judge the living and the dead.  Well, today, we heard about St. Peter’s temporary failure, and from it we can draw more lessons.

            St. Peter’s failure came about after Jesus explained to His disciples that He must suffer many things and be killed and on the third day rise from the dead.  St. Peter insisted that such things should never happen to the Son of God, whereupon Jesus rebuked him and said he was on the side of man, not of God.  To drive home the point, Jesus called Peter, “Satan”.

            Thus, we learn that on earth there are only two sides, the side of God and the side of man, and this short Gospel also informs us what characterizes each side.

            First, to be on the side of man is to be unwilling, or even hesitant, to sacrifice oneself for the benefit of others.  In explaining to the disciples that He must be tortured and murdered, Jesus also tells them that this sacrifice on oneself is necessary for them, too.  He says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  If we do not want to make the sacrifice Jesus made, or if we lack the courage to make such a sacrifice, we are one the side of man.

            Likewise, to be on the side of God is to eschew self-interest and offer one’s very life that others might live.  A necessary component of such willingness to sacrifice oneself is faith—confidence with Jesus and in Jesus that we do not lay down our lives in vain, and trust that from the suffering we endure, God continues the redeeming work begun in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.  To have such faith is to be on the side of God.  And to deny the redemptive value of suffering, to see no point in making sacrifices for others, such doubt is to place oneself on the side of man.

            The second way we can determine who is on the side of God has to do with how we react to the suffering inflicted upon us.  The temptation to which we are prone is to seek vengeance upon those who have wronged us and wronged those we love.  However, Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that when He comes again in the glory of His Father to judge the living and the head “he will repay every may for what he has done”.  Thus, we learn that it is not man’s role to exact vengeance upon evildoers.  Rather, it is the role of Jesus, our Judge.

            Our role, which places us squarely on the side of God, is to offer the same forgiveness that Jesus did when he was tortured and killed.  He prayed, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do”.  Even in His hour of trial, Jesus desired not death for His persecutors, but that they would turn from their wickedness and live.  His prayer that they be forgiven ultimately is a prayer that they have life, and if we desire to be on the side of God, we must desire also that those who cause us suffering will have life.

            When, on the other hand, we seek to exact vengeance on evildoers, we are on the side of man.  When we desire justice for ourselves more than we wish life for our enemies, we display the same loathsome self-interest that prevents self-sacrifice for the benefit of others.  Moreover, when we take for ourselves God’s role of judgment, we demonstrate our lack of faith in both the power of forgiveness to transform lives as well as our failure to believe that evildoers will be repaid at the end of time.  Here is the paradox:  when we try to assume God’s role, whether intentionally or not, we place ourselves on the side of man, for we forget the mercy God desires for all His children, the mercy even we ourselves need.

            Let me be clear here that what is wrong is the desire for vengeance, the desire to condemn all the guilty right now.  The protection of our society through the enforcement of just laws is not vengeance, and should never be construed as such.  The orientation we must avoid, the orientation that places us on the side of man, is that orientation that demands the immediate condemnation rather than hope for the eternal salvation, of certain wrongdoers. To be on the side of God is to forgive and let God repay.  To be on the side of man is to hold a grudge and try to repay right now.

            The third way to distinguish between those on the side of God and those on the side of man is to look at the results of these two ways of living.  On the one hand are those willing to sacrifice their lives for the benefit of others because they believe in the redemptive power of suffering and forgiveness.  And on the other are those who will not sacrifice their lives or forgive enemies because they have no faith in Him who rules heaven and earth.

            Jesus tells us that those who follow His path, that of carrying the cross while forgiving the very men who made Him carry it, those will find their lives.  That is, even should they be killed by the wicked, they will receive eternal life. Those who refuse this path, even should they gain the whole world by it, will, in fact, receive eternal death, eternal separation from the Author of Life, who offered them the mercy they refused.

            The eternal consequences, however, are not all there is to be feared.  Certainly, to be on the side of God is to look forward to heaven, and to be on the side of man is to stare into the abyss of hell.  But our lives here upon earth offer a foreshadowing of the things to come:  they serve as signs to an ultimate destiny.  Those who offer their lives in service to others simply are happier than their selfish counterparts, even as they struggle with their cross.  Those who forgive their persecutors enjoy a peace the advocates of vengeance simply do not know.  Those on the side of God seem to get better with age, more pleasant, more enjoyable with every passing day.  Those on the side of man grow increasingly embittered, so angry and hateful, one has a hard time imagining they could enjoy heaven if they had to spent eternity with so many people they so despised on earth.  This applies to the wealthy and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the popular and those living in anonymity.  We see from their example that if we want to embrace life even as we walk the earth, it is better to be on the side of God than of man.

            If you think you have made the wrong choice up to now, as you reflect upon your selfishness and the grudges you have held for too long, remember again the example of St. Peter.  Jesus rebuked him in today’s Gospel, going so far as to call him Satan.  But this is not where St. Peter stayed, for he listened to the rebuke.  He no more wished to be on the side of man than you or I do.  He switched sides, and so can you.

            Start by going to confession.  Confess your selfishness and your desire for vengeance.  Receive from Jesus the forgiveness you desire to bestow upon even your persecutors.  Then figure out ways to share with others the life you have just now discovered.  Take up your cross and embark on the path of sacrifice, of faith and forgiveness, the path that will bring you joy in this life and life in the world to come.