How many of you play golf?
Conversations on the links can bring bits of wisdom. A friend noted, “life is too short....so don't fret...make the best of each day.” He then emphasized his point: “In 1923, Charles Schwab was president of the largest U.S. steel company; Edward Hopson, president of the largest gas company; and Jesse Livermore, the ‘Great Bear’ on Wall Street. One died broke; the second lost his wits and the third killed himself."
In the same era, the greatest golfer was Gene Sarazen. The first to win a modern Career Grand Slam (the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship), Sarazen made his primary residence in Naples, Florida. He enjoyed golf into his 90s and had a keen intellect until the day he died at age 97. My friend concluded: stop fretting and start playing golf. I think there’s a lesson in Sarazen’s life for all of us.
The word of God today focuses on a prophet in the eighth century before Jesus. Isaiah denounced a royal official who abused his office. The official most likely compromised his integrity. The king replaced him with someone who had integrity, an ethical conscience. The author challenges us to try always to do the right thing. Good advice for all of us.
Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome marvels at the awesome wisdom of God whose saving grace abounds everywhere. Our God, Paul proclaims, is a God worthy of our worship.
Paul invites us to live in awe at the wonders of God--for example, the glorious sunrise and sunset framing each day we are given, the beautiful bayfront and bayous, and the exquisite creatures -- birds, manatees, Florida panthers, palm trees -- every living thing nourishing us, and nourished by us as good stewards of God's creation. This all flows in the liturgy. Yes, our doxology song rings: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Thank God for the gift of life, of freedom, of pursuing happiness amidst our many blessings, especially family, faith and friends.
In the Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples: who do people say I am? Peter by the grace of God recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of the hopes of ancient Israel, the anointed one, the Christos. Jesus then makes Peter the rock, the leader of his community of disciples, the church: today a 1.2 billion + global faith community, of saints and sinners.
Who is this Jesus to whom we give our ultimate allegiance? The early Christian community saw Jesus as the fulfillment of hopes. And so, they named him the Messiah.
But the more they reflected on who he was, the more they saw Jesus not only as the fulfillment but as the foundation of their hopes. They named him the eternal Word. The Gospel according to John captures this magnificently in the prologue: "In the beginning was the Word...He was in the beginning with God." Yes, Jesus was the foundation and the fulfillment of their hopes and our own.
Jesus was a real human being, flesh and blood like ourselves. He experienced fatigue, hunger, joy, friendship, disappointment, loneliness, and death. He was a rabbi, a teacher, a prophet preaching that the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst.
Jesus worked signs and wonders proclaiming that good will triumph over evil. He possessed authority to forgive wrongdoings. He promised eternal life. He had a unique relationship with God; he was one with God; truly human yet truly divine. He was crucified and then raised up, transfigured into a new heavenly reality. Jesus is alive in our midst. And because he is alive, we are alive by God’s grace & favor.
Jesus taught that you and I can share in the kingdom of God by living a life of discipleship.
How? By living prayerfully in the presence of God; by recognizing that our lives have an ultimate purpose; by seeing in Jesus the Word made flesh, the face of God; by reaching out compassionately with a helping hand to those around us; by experiencing the presence of the living Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, sacramentally and mystically in mass; and by being ready to let go of our earthly life, so that we can be in relationship with God forever. Yes, even in death is eternal life.
Jesus taught that God is our Father: a compassionate God, always near us each day to guide us on our journey to our heavenly home.
I invite all of us to rededicate ourselves to Jesus Christ and to ask him to grace us anew, so we may grow ever more deeply in our relationship with God and manifest ever more clearly the glory of God in our everyday attitudes and behaviors.
