Who do you say that I am?

“Who do you say that I am?”
Matt 16:15


To me, these are the most powerful words in Scripture. They are Christ’s challenge to respond to his appearance as recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This is our time. This is when Scripture becomes personal. This is our turn to be part of scripture no matter how many years it has been since the birth of Christ. Each of our responses is individualized, private, as well as personal. It is what we believe Christ is after our leap of faith. Our response is our baptism or our conversion. God loves, we respond. There are no stock answers to this basic question. If your spouse would ask to you the same question, “Who do you say that I am?” your answer would be personal and customized to your particular private relationship. This is the beauty of God. He gives us the freedom to each respond in our own way to this basic question.
To me, he is the one who fulfills me the most, the one whom I want to be with for all time. He is the one that I strive to see in the faces of the poor. He is the one who along with me laughs at my private jokes. He is the creator of all that is different in the world.

God"s Will

Let your will, not mine, be done”
Based on the Lord’s Prayer


It seems to me that at times I pray to God to let me have my way, that he let “my” will be done. I am not praying for his will to be done, but I am praying that He will endorse my will. I guess that without thinking this means that I figure that I am smarter than Him. When I do pray asking that his will be done, I am praying for: direction, humility (to admit that His will is the important one) and the ability to see myself as a servant. Becoming a servant is not easy. I am praying that I can contain my “self” or my “will” and be open to His will concerning my fellow man. My “I” becomes small. This situation does not become a battle of wills but rather an immersion of my will into His and this is proving to be a life long process.

Me versus the Poor

“The Poor will always be with us”
Mark 14:7
Christ was with the Poor many times throughout his ministry
- A reading of Luke’s Gospel


Both phrases give pause for thought. To me the first phrase that the poor will always be with us reminds us of the collective goal of Christians to move towards their Father’s love as a group. The poor are part of us, not a separate group given to us as objects, a chore to prove our generosity. No, the poor are full members of our group, Christianity; which means that we are to love them as God loves us. That means with dignity, not derision, with respect, not ridicule and with generosity, not gratuity. When the gospels showed that Christ is with the poor at all times, he extended to us the challenge to join him in his love for the poor. We are to be with them in some way at all times. This is one of the harder roles to define for most of us. We have no urge to live in the ghetto and see nothing wrong with the life that we have chosen for ourselves in golden suburbia. Here lies the crux of what we have to face. We are separating ourselves from some of God’s people. We must change somehow and I don’t have the answers. I support a Child in Honduras through a group that I contribute to on a monthly basis. Too often I see that as a contribution not as working with another member of God’s family. I have work to do. If the Poor will always be with us and Christ was often with the Poor, I would think that that would be a great place to be.

Conversion

Conversion is not a one time only experience, it is not just a Lenten experience, it is not a monthly or an every-other-day experience. It is an every day commitment. You might want to compare it to being in physical shape. It takes effort every day in various degrees, but it does take a daily commitment. We too often are going to put off the “God thing” till another day. Too often, we say; “When I get this or that done, I will be able to do the God thing.” Or “once I get this done for the kids or work or myself, I will get to it.” Relationships work better if they are every day, not once a week or less. God does not put off his love for us; it is there day in and day out. Shouldn’t we respond in the same way? The words “put it off” are interesting. This actually means a conscious effort to not deal with or work with our relationship with God. This is not forgetting to do something, but remembering it and then deciding not to do it.