The Bishop Writes

(From the Sept. 9, 1999 edition of the Inland Register)

A few weeks ago, the Gospel of the Sunday shares the scene of Jesus asking the apostles who they thought he was. This question addressed to the disciples was direct and went to the heart of his relationship with them. Peter responds full of faith indicating that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. This first among the apostles indicated there is no one else to whom they could go.

A couple of years ago, a youth in the diocese gave me a bracelet with the inscription “WWJD.” This series of letters poses a question: What would Jesus do? These words, too, challenge us to live up to our responsibilities as followers of Jesus.

Perhaps the more basic question, though, is the one Jesus asks. Who do we say Jesus is? I suggest three ways of reflecting on that question.

First, who do we say Jesus is in the Church, in the celebration of the sacraments? Jesus spent his three years of public ministry training his apostles and laying the foundation for the establishment of his Church. He chooses Peter as the “rock,” upon which he builds the Church, “and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” Jesus before his passion and death celebrates the Last Supper and tells Peter and the rest, “Do this in memory of me.” Clearly, Jesus wants this expression of his love, sacrifice, and sustenance of life to be shared down through the centuries through Church and sacrament.

It is indeed through the Church and especially the celebration of the sacraments that we encounter the Lord Jesus. For us as we respond to this presence, this is a clear way of our saying who Jesus is. That’s why Sunday Eucharist is so important for us as we gather week after week to experience the intimacy with Jesus with the community of faith. Jesus did not form a Church of rugged individualists, but a community of believers who received his Body and, in a wonderful way, were his Body.

Second, who do we say Jesus is in neighbor? Jesus tells us that following the first great commandment of loving God above else, we must love neighbor as self. Jesus makes his teaching very specific. He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan as an explanation of who neighbor is. In his parable about the Last Judgment in Matthew 25, his demanding reverence for every person is expressed by “whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.”

The social teaching of the Church in the last century has picked up strongly on this focus of the presence of Jesus in our world, seeing this teaching as absolutely indispensable and integral to the mission of the Church and the call of Jesus. So Jesus asks us, “Who do you say I am in your neighbor?”

Finally, who do we say Jesus is in our hearts? St. Paul reminds us that we are temples of God and that God resides in us. Jesus’ promise is that he is with us always and that his love for us is just as great as the love between him and the Father. Very few people deny the existence of God. However, the relationship with the Trinity in the heart may be weak or almost non-existent because God does not occupy first place.

Thus, prayer becomes very important for us. There is no substitute for the personal contact with God inside us. Constant reflection on the myriad ways God comes to us in our daily living, even through pain, failure, and sorrow helps us to appreciate the ever abiding presence which can be such a powerful force in our lives. So often acknowledging that presence for just a split second can offer assistance in making a responsible or courageous decision faithful to Jesus’ call. The question then comes to us, “Who do you say I am in your heart?”

Who do you say I am? Each of us can ask that question in relation to Church, sacraments, neighbor, and our hearts. We know the challenge of giving an ever-better response.

May God bless you and give you peace.

On Sept. 12 we will celebrate the closing the new main doors on the front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes. The new doors are beautiful. The closing of the doors has special significance as we approach the great Year of Jubilee. The doors of jubilee at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican remain closed except during the Jubilee years.

The theme of the jubilee year is: “Open wide the doors to Christ.” The special doors of our cathedral will be opened at the beginning of the Jubilee year, signifying even more importantly the opening of the doors of our hearts to evangelization, reconciliation, and celebration. That’s why I think our response to my reflection above is so important as we approach the Jubilee Year and the new millennium.

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