24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 50:4c-9a; Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35
Today’s reading from Isaiah rings familiar. One of the “servant songs” from the second prophet bearing the name, we hear it on Palm Sunday and thus associate it with the Passion of Jesus. This portrait of a faithful servant (the Hebrew word also means disciple) applies to Israel and to us, too.
The courage in the face of adversity that Isaiah describes comes not from human resources, but from the saving help of God. Even the servant’s receptivity to God’s word results from divine action: “The Lord opens my ear that I may hear.”
Indeed, the courage of this disciple springs from a relationship of trust, built up over time, as God proves trustworthy as compassionate savior and reliable guide. We can imagine asking, “How do you endure it?” and hearing the answer, “I have a covenant partner.”
Obviously, trust in God and obedience to God’s command do not shield the servant from persecution; rather they motivate ridicule and rough treatment from those who oppose this faithful one.
If this passage applies to us, as well as to Israel and Jesus, we must ask: How do we maintain our courage and convictions in the face of abuse? How do we handle the emotions that come with rejection, the feelings that well up in response to mean-spirited words and actions?
The great mystic Thomas Merton would call us to contemplation — the deep embrace of reality that owns the ebb and flow of emotion but does not allow it to direct our response; that sees through the chaos within and around us and perceives the presence of God – to us, with us and in us. This spirit of contemplation, of deep seeing, through and beyond our present troubles, underlies the psalmist’s refrain, “I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.”
As the first reading anticipates God’s deliverance, today’s selection from Psalm 116 recalls the psalmist’s experience of it. Mining concrete memory, this one describes how disgrace has marked her life.
Cords of death, snares of hell, distress and sorrow have done their worst, compelling the outcry, “O Lord, save my life!” Then comes the turn, for God has saved the sufferer. With soul restored, tears dried and feet steady, the psalmist vows to “walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”
During the hardest times in human history, people of faith have interpreted this “land of the living” language from two distinct points of view — from the other-worldly or this-worldly perspective. The other-worldly perspective looks at human misery and says, “Suffer now and reap your reward in heaven.” This-worldly focus sees “the land of the living” as here and now.
From this here and now perspective springs the work of charity and justice-making emphasized by St. James in the second reading. Disciples of Jesus must answer a two-fold call by the power of the Spirit: to trust God amid our own troubles and be bearers of God’s abiding presence to other suffering people.
This also rings familiar. We know from experience that in times of trouble God touches us through others. An empathetic ear, an assurance of prayer, a kind word — even from a stranger – can pierce the fog when we ourselves cannot see through the chaos. We “walk before the Lord in the land of the living” not alone, but together, leaning upon one another.
In the Gospel, Peter answers the question, “Who do you say that I am?” with great faith and conviction, saying, “You are the Christ.”
A moment later, as Jesus predicts his suffering and death, Peter resists, prompting the stinging rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan.”
Then comes Jesus’ exhortation to deny self, take up our cross and follow. True faith leads to the work of discipleship, the spending of self on the mission handed on to us by Christ — to proclaim God’s reign of justice in prophetic word and loving deed.
Melanie holds a master’s in pastoral studies from Loyola University, New Orleans.