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Escritura:
Zacarías 12,10-11; Gálatas
3,26-29; Lucas 9,18-24 |
EVANGELIO
Una vez que Jesús
estaba orando solo, en presencia de sus
 discípulos,
les preguntó: -¿Quién dice la gente que soy yo?
Ellos contestaron:
-Unos que Juan el Bautista, otros que Elías, otros dicen que ha vuelto a
la vida uno de los antiguos profetas.
El les preguntó:
-Y vosotros, ¿quién decís que soy yo?
Pedro tomó la
palabra y dijo: -El Mesías de Dios.
Él les prohibió
terminantemente decírselo a nadie. Y añadió: -El Hijo del hombre tiene
que padecer mucho, ser desechado por los ancianos, sumos sacerdotes y
letrados, ser ejecutado y resucitar al tercer día.
Y, dirigiéndose a
todos, dijo: -El que quiera seguirme, que se niegue a sí mismo, cargue
con su cruz de cada día y se venga conmigo. Pues el que quiera salvar su
vida, la perderá; pero el que pierda su vida por mi causa, la salvará.
HOMILÍA 1
En su libro The
Wisdom of Big Bird, La Sabiduría del Gran Pájaro, Caroll Spinney
escribe: "Yo soy, tal vez, la persona más desconocida y
 más famosa de
América. Es el Pájaro el que es famoso, no yo". El Gran Pájaro de Sesame
Street es conocido y querido por todos los niños del mundo. Es una
estrella de la televisión y de las películas. Ha ganado Emmys y Grammys,
ha salido en la portada de Life Magazine e incluso tiene su propia
estrella en el paseo de la Fama de Hollywood.
Caroll Spinney, el
titiritero dentro del traje del Pájaro, puede caminar por las calles y
nadie sabe quién es. A él no le gusta ser perseguido por la prensa o el
público.
En el evangelio de
hoy, Jesús se siente como la persona más desconocida y más famosa del
mundo. Incluso sus discípulos parecen no saber quién es realmente.
Jesús les
pregunta: "¿Quién dice la gente que soy yo?"
Mientras escuchan
la proclamación del evangelio de hoy, Jesús también les hace la misma
pregunta. ¿Quién dicen ustedes que soy yo? Y tenemos que darle nuestra
respuesta.
Sobre Jesús de
nada sirve tener opiniones más o menos favorables y correctas. A Jesús
sólo se le responde de verdad desde el seguimiento y la fe.
El Jesús
superestrella y maravilloso es también el Jesús sufriente en la cruz.
Jesús no es un
trozo de escayola pintada y convertida en estatua. Es
 un ser humano, de
carne y hueso, que nos redimió a través del sufrimiento.
Cuando vamos a un
museo y los vigilantes no nos miran nos gusta tocar las esculturas y las
pinturas para ver si son verdaderas y sólidas. Lo mismo pasa con
nosotros, estatuas humanas. Cuando somos probados y arañados por el
sufrimiento, sabemos si somos verdaderos y sólidos o baratas
imitaciones.
En la carta a los
Gálatas San Pablo nos ha dicho hoy: "Ya no hay distinción entre judíos y
gentiles, esclavos y libres, hombres y mujeres, porque todos sois uno en
Cristo Jesús".
La imposible
unidad para los hombres se hace posible en Cristo.
Los judíos y los
gentiles no se llevaban nada bien. Los judíos enseñaban que para hacerse
cristiano había que hacerse judío. San Pablo no está de acuerdo.
Antes de Cristo
era la Ley de Moisés. Con Cristo llega la ley de la Libertad.
Romper la ley ya
nos excluye del amor de Dios que siempre nos espera con los brazos
abiertos. Dios sigue amándonos a todos y no nos pone etiquetas. Todas
quedan abolidas.
Después de Cristo
todos somos herederos por la fe de las promesas de Dios.
La unidad en la
diversidad. Los cristianos pueden concentrarse en su nueva relación con
Dios. No tienen que malgastar sus energías en saber quién es quién,
quién está dentro y quién fuera. Lo importante es esforzarse en vivir la
vida cristiana.
El momento
decisivo entre el antes y el después es el Bautismo.
Revestidos de
Cristo se nos ha dado una vida nueva, hemos entrado en la comunidad de
los hijos y ninguno es ya el mismo después.
Ahora tenemos la
libertad en el Espíritu, libres para vivir para Dios, libres para amar
al prójimo, libres para llevar los fardos de los demás, libres para
hacer el bien a todos… y tan libres que ya no hay diferencias, ni
colores, ni razas, ni edades, ni clérigos y laicos, ni hombres y
mujeres, ni ciudadanos e inmigrantes. Somos todos iguales. Las
clasificaciones humanas están todavía ahí, pero ya no importan. Lo que
importa es Cristo en mí, Cristo en ti, y todos uno en Cristo.
Después de Cristo
lo viejo ha pasado. Todo lo ha hecho nuevo.
HOMILÍA 2
QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED
Suppose Jesus were to come here
One night, Charles Lamb and his guests were chatting about William
Shakespeare over Spanish port and Cuban cigars.
“Supposing”, one askek Lamb, “Shakespeare were to stroll into our dining
room at this moment”. The essayist replied, “We would raise a glass of
port to the great man”.
“Supposing”, asked another, ``Jesus were to come here”. Lamb answered,
“We would get down on our knees”.
There is the essential difference between the man from Nazareth And all
the great people you can think of. The Christ is God, and all others, no
matter what their deeds, are but fools who strut on the stage for a
brief time and then exit. (Fr Gilhooley)
We are told that Jesus was praying alone but his disciples were with him.
This tiny detail reminds us that Jesus spent time in prayer. We do not
know the content of his conversation with his Father, was it about his
ministry, about his death? He prayed and we must.
After this heavenly conversation he had an earthly conversation with his
disciples.
He asked them about the word on the street, who the crowds say that I am?
The crowds saw Jesus as a man with a great message and with great power,
but ultimately they were not sure of who he was. Some believed he was
John the Baptist, because he preached about repentance, others thought
he was Elijah, because he worked miracles like him...He was a celebrity,
the Jew of the day.
Today it is easy for us to answer this question. We have thousands of
books about Jesus's Life and message. There are thousands of opinions. I
asked Google and I found what Famous people say, what New yorkers say,
what Christians say, what Atheists say ... Most people have
an opinion about Jesus.
Einstein says,”I Am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of
the Nazarene. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase- mongers,
however artful”.
Napoleon says, “Alexander, Caesar...and myself founded empires upon
force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love and at this hour
millions of men would die for him”.
We can repeat what other people have been saying for centuries. We play
safe using the third person, the Church says, my priest says, my
catechist says... and reduces Jesus to a mere doctrine. Today’s Gospel
reminds us that it is not good enough, that it is useless to hide behind
the third person.
Jesus asks you, me, us: Who do you say that I am?
Forget about what other people say. Only our answer matters. Jesus is
listening, he is waiting for our answer. To hear him, please turn down
not only the world’s volume, but also your fears, your ambitions and
your doubts.
“Jesus is not valued at all, until he is valued above all”. Saint
Augustine Yes, we have Peter’s answer. “You are the Messiah, the Son of
the living God”.
Jesus does not want a theological answer, we are his followers not
theologians, Jesus question is about a relationship, it is about love.
And one thing is to lecture someone about love and another one is to
tell him “I love you”. What is always necessary is to be connected to
the source of all love, to have a relationship with Jesus is vital and
necessary.
We have the official definition in Peter’s answer, but Jesus wants our
personal definition.
The password to connect with Jesus is,
“I love you”.
“Too many Christians, '' Wiersbe wrote, “are content to be listeners who
gain a lot of knowledge but who never put that knowledge into practice”.
Let us stop being students and listeners. We are invited to be disciples
and discipleship is a lifetime endeavor.
“If anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself, and take up
his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it”. (Lk
9:23-24)
“A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing is
worth nothing”.
(Martin Luther)
HOMILÍA 3
STRESS KILLS
HAVE you ever counted the times that the Word of God reminds us not to
be afraid?
One hundred and eleven times and three times occur in the Gospel we have
just proclaimed.
Jesus said to the twelve: Fear no one.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.
Dr. Charles Mayo of the famous Mayo Clinic said this about worry:
“There is a growing mountain of evidence that worry is the chief
contributor of depression, nervous breakdown, high blood pressure, heart
attacks and early death. Stress kills”.
I have never known a man die from hard work but I have known a lot who
have died from worry.
So what is the solution to worry?
Someone once said: “Worry is like a rocking chair, it uses up all your
energy without getting you anywhere”.
We are not supposed to stay put, but on the move, on the road to tell
the people who we are, what we believe and why we are not afraid of
proclaiming and living our faith in Jesus.
Jesus is talking to his disciples who are probably thrilled to be his
followers.
There is a time to listen, to learn and to follow , but there is also a
time for action, to move forward, to do God’s work. We are more than
admirers, more than bystanders, we are his disciples and we call him
Lord.
Every Sunday is for us D DAy.
We are not sent into the world to fight evil but to conquer the evil one.
Are you afraid of sharing your faith with your brothers and sisters?
D Day is both fear and victory.
In Alphabet City, we are most unlikely to face death for being a
follower of Jesus Christ.
We might not have to fear for our lives, but we can be tempted to be
fearful about other things, very small things.
When I come to NYC I am afraid of going through customs, of taking the
elevator in some buildings, of an empty refrigerator, of being rejected
or ignored…afraid of what you might think of me…small things that make
our lives miserable.
We have failed many times, but it is the stories of our victories, the
times we have faced failure head-on that count. Don’t count your
failures, count your victories.
“Fear no one”. What Jesus is that God is God, that he is above success
and failure, help and isolation weal and woe, holding them in hands that
Jesus says are the hands of the Father.
Prayer is our way of saying: Father I know you love me and I know you
want tso guide me in this situation. I need help, your help.
Sunday. Our D Day. Fear and Victory.
I’ll send an S.O.S to Heaven.
Walked out this morning, don’t believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles, washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone at being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home.
True, we are worth more than a billion sparrows. True, we know that
nobody can kill our souls, but we also know that stress and evil men can
kill our bodies, and we are afraid.
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before
my heavenly Father.”
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