This weekend, our deacon at St Jude, Deacon John McGregor, will be giving the homily at the weekend masses. This is a reflection that I wrote about the Gospel message this weekend for our bulletin:
Who am I? Who do YOU say that I am? Jesus asks his followers this question in our Gospel today. Every Christian must answer this question in the reality of his life. We answer this question in both our words and our actions. Every mass we celebrate together on Sunday, we profess the Nicene creed. The Early Church started writing this creed at the Council of Nicea, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the year 325. We start our profession of the Creed with the words “I believe.” We profess the faith of the entire Catholic Church, a faith we share in unity and solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In starting the creed “I believe,” each believer asserts and professes his own personal faith with other believers. But it goes beyond that. Way beyond that. I remember a couple of years ago being at a meeting in Tupelo of pastors and church leaders from many different Christian leaders. The Presbyterian lady leading the meeting was asking about a quote about preaching the Gospel in our actions, not just words. As the lone Catholic in the group, I knew that she was trying to quote St Francis of Assisi, when he said: “Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary, use words.” This also reminded me of a quote from Archbishop Dom Helder Camara of Recife, Brazil, who passed away on August 27, 1999: “Watch how you live. Your lives may be the only Gospel your brothers and sisters will read.” By not only our words, but our actions, we say who Jesus is.”
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