Recently ABC-TV put on a special hosted by Peter Jennings on the historical Jesus. It was doomed from the start because it did not accept Jesus as the Son of God - its only concern was looking into the man, Jesus, to learn as much as history could tell us.
I don't know how Peter Jennings would have answered the question - "Who do you say Jesus is?" - but Jesus asked this question of St. Peter in today's gospel. The apostles had only known Jesus for a couple of years. Their experience, summed up in Peter's answer, prompted them to say with Peter, "You are the Messiah!" (Mark 8:29)
Peter's answer was correct, and he should have stopped when he was ahead. Jesus went on to predict how he would have to suffer before he died, and Peter played down such a prediction. It was then that Jesus called Peter "Satan," and told him to "get behind me!"
These are strong words, and I doubt many of us could have taken them. Jesus wanted Peter to see that he was acting like the great tempter, Satan, in pooh-poohing Jesus' future suffering. Jesus was predicting his own suffering, but also saying that all who followed him would have to take up their cross also.
We don't like to suffer; however, Jesus would have not been honest with us if he had not told us about suffering. When we look at the lives of good people, we know that Jesus was being straight with us. The martyrs witness to the fact of suffering for a follower of Jesus.
Last year a woman with the lively name of Pepi Deutsch died at the age of 101. She lived with her daughter Clara in Scarsdale New York. Her life of self-denial was so great that the New York Times wrote a whole feature about her, much more than even their famous obituary notices. The following is based upon that account.
- Imagine a woman already forty-six years old, living comfortably in a small
town in Hungary. Her husband owned a shoe factory. Then in May, 1944, the
nightmare began. The Germans came and then "herded Mrs. Deutsch, her family
and 10,000 other Jews onto the grounds of a brick factory. From there, they
were taken by cattle cars to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The notorious Dr. Josef
Mengele assigned the youthful-looking Mrs. Deutsch to a work group of
younger women that included Clara. Mrs. Deutsch's 19-year-old son, Zoltan,
died in Auschwitz, shot to death in front of her husband, Joseph. Later
Joseph perished in a death march. In all, 37 of her relatives died,
including her mother and four brothers." She sums it up in her faulty
English. "Just I and Clara." They were then shipped to a factory in Latvia,
more slave labor, and "survived there on a daily ration of three slices of
bread and a soup of potato peels." Then to eastern Prussia, where they dug
anti-tank trenches. The reporter mentions that "Mrs. Deutsch used her brief
rest periods to wash Clara's only dress in a river. The reporter adds: "That
Clara survived at all told much about the sacrifices her mother was willing
to make. In January 1945, after the two women weathered months of hunger,
cold, lice and savagery from their guards, Mrs. Deutsch made sure that Clara
got to celebrate her 17th birthday. She hoarded three slices of bread,
coated them with marmalade and produced a birthday cake. The daughter for
her part rescued the mother from a beating by a Nazi guard by reminding him
to think of his own mother.
What happened to them after the war? Life in communist Russia until 1962, then immigration to the United States, and a new life. It is pleasing to think of her later years, living in her daughter's house, doing her kosher cooking, reading a Hungarian newspaper. Two years ago, when they were both honored, the daughter, who is seventy-two, said, "People in those circumstances argued over a slice of bread or a spoon of soup. My mother and I never argued. She didn't eat her soup, and gave it to me." Think of those gospel words, "He who loses his life will find it." Or, she who denies herself for the good of another shows the very compassion of God.
- John Willisher was known as the "Good Samaritan of Woodbridge" and his wife often worried at the risks he took to help others. His reply to her pleas for caution was "I can't stand by and do nothing." One day, as he was coming home from work, he saw a car stranded by the roadside. He offered to call the woman's husband. Just then he heard screams of children and he rushed across the busy highway. Two children, ages 7 and 9, had fallen through the ice on a swollen stream rushing under a thin layer of ice. The nine-year-old was able to catch a rope thrown across the ice and was pulled to safety. The younger boy cried, "I can't hold on." John lay on his stomach and started across the ice. The ice broke and he plunged into the icy water as Bryan went under. Both slid under the ice but John grabbed Bryan's collar and was able to hold the boy's head above the water until he was rescued. Bryan was safe. John's wife got a call from the hospital. John had died saving Bryan.
Great artists must also know suffering in order to produce their magnificent creations of art.
- In 1875, the same year that Antonin Dvorak finished his Fifth Symphony, he
and his wife lost a child, Josefa, two days after her birth. Life seemed to
conspire against him. He was not at the time the internationally successful
composer he would eventually become. His family had not had money (his
father had been a tavern keeper who had wanted his son to be a butcher), and
Dvorak made a poor living as a church organist and music teacher.
The musician, husband, and father attempted to turn his grief about his
daughter into music, writing a piano piece and planning a choral setting of
the "Stabat Mater," the Latin hymn about the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot
of the cross. Other commitments distracted him from the piece, however. And
then in 1877, within the space of a month, two tragedies disturbed his
personal life. Dvorak lost a three-year-old because of smallpox and another
baby daughter died of accidental poisoning. His revived grief made him take
up the "Stabat Mater" once more. He finished the work, considered among his
greatest compositions, within two months.
The composition was wildly successful, gaining Dvorak much international attention. Because of the popularity of the piece in London, the composer was invited to conduct it in the Royal Albert Hall. There, for an audience of twelve thousand, Dvorak conducted a chorus made up of 250 sopranos, 160 altos, 180 tenors, and 250 basses, supported by an orchestra with 92 string instruments. The moment was something of an apotheosis, and the composer's career was established. The night after the performance he wrote, "From all I have gained the conviction that anew, and with God's will, a happier period is now beginning for me in England.."
- Mike Minor had a life-changing experience this past November 14th. Mike was
at home having a lazy Sunday. Flipping through the channels on TV, he came
across the Ironman competition being televised from Hawaii. Mike was amazed
to see these athletes, men and women, push themselves to their absolute
limits. The race begins with a 2 ½ mile marathon. To complete this course is
an incredible achievement. As Mike watched the athletes pass by, it appeared
that all of them were in top physical condition. But hidden in the crowd
Mike noticed other athletes who at first seemed out of place. A runner with
only one leg, and then a man in a wheelchair. Mike saw a man swimming with a
harness tied to a small inflatable raft. In this raft was another man, who
obviously could not swim this race on his own power. Then this race began to
get really interesting. Who were these men and what was going on? As the
older of the two men climbed out of the water, he gently picked up the man
in the raft and carried him to the next course, the 115-mile bike ride. It
turns out the two men were father and son. The father is 59 years old, and
his son is 37. The son has cerebral palsy and physically could not compete
on his own. So the two compete and challenge themselves as one. The race was
won in just over eight hours. To Mike the first place did not count in this
race. The father and son team crossed the finish line in just over 16 hours.
As they did Mike cried watching this man and his son rejoice in their
achievement.
Mike writes, "We may not be running a race as challenging as the Ironman, but sometimes life is just as hard. We may not be physically challenged, but we may suffer from loneliness, depression, alcoholism or abuse. It is then the Father gently pulls us out of the water we may be struggling in, and carries us to the next challenge. His arms are always open to catch us if we fall; his legs are there to carry us when we feel we cannot walk. His love is there to fill our hearts to give us the strength to keep us going. When we cross the final "finish line" he will be waiting to embrace us. He may even carry us across that line. Christ is the TRUE Ironman," Mike writes, "and his sacrifice will carry us all across the finish line."
1) Fr. Joseph Nolan, ed., "Save life, lose it," Good News 27, (09): 338
(Good News, Liturgical Publications Inc., 2875 South James Drive, New
Berlin, WI 53151) Sept. 2000.
2) Helen C. Swift, S.N.D. de N., Homily, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time,
Homily Helps, Series B readings, Lectionary #131, Sept. 2000.
3) Richard Antall, "The cross that bears us," Markings, September 17, 2000,
Readings - 131, (The Thomas More Association, 205 West Monroe St. -- Sixth
Floor, Chicago IL 60606-5097) Sept. 2000
4) Mike Minor. Mminor1702@aol.com. As quoted in "A powerful testimony," from Dynamic Preaching 15 (3):70 (Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road,
Knoxville TN 37922) Sept. 2000.
(Comments to Jerry at padre@tri-lakes.net. Jerry's book, Stories For All Seasons, is available at a discount through the Homiletic Resource Center.)