Gospel Reflection for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

According to one of his biographers, the novelist Ernest Hemingway, on the first day of every New Year, would give away some of his most treasured possessions. Asked how he could do this, Hemingway said, “If I can give them away, then I own them. But if I can’t give them away, they own me.”

Hemingway’s perspective mirrors Peter’s simple, plaintive confession of faith in today’s Gospel. Though difficult to hear and fully grasp, Jesus’ Gospel of justice, compassion and peace is eternal life -everything else only distracts us from our search for God. We can become owned but what we think we possess; our lives are run by what we believe we control; we become imprisoned by the expectations created by the technology that should free us. But we are terrified to let go, not because we don’t understand what Jesus asks of us but because we understand all too well.

Jesus’ demand that his disciples must be forgiving and merciful runs counter to what human convention dictates; Gospel justice and compassion can make us very uncomfortable and uneasy. While we are obsessed with building and maintaining a lifestyle, Christ speaks to us of life -its purpose, its meaning, and its ultimate fulfilment.

Christ’s Gospel knocks over our self-centred justifications for the way we act: Jesus forces us to confront the difficult and unpleasant truths about ourselves and our world. The faith that Christ reveals to us is not a warm fluffy blanket to wrap ourselves up in nor is it a protective coating designed to ward off every form of sin and evil. Jesus’ “words of eternal life” are a light that illuminates our journey through life’s challenges and obstacles; it is a lens through which we are able to see God’s grace at work even in the most trying and difficult times. If we truly understand Jesus’ words, then we can put aside our own needs, problems and wants to find our joy in imitating Jesus’ attitude of service to others; we discover that we live to become a part of a world much greater than ourselves, that we are connected to everyone through the dignity we all share as sons and daughters of God.

To be worthy of the name of Christ demands the constant, focused, and honest faith articulated by Simon Peter: “You, Master, have the words of eternal life.”