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Reflection on the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Times

By Pen Lytle

The readings for this Sunday

Jeremiah 20:7-9

  • Whether we are called to prophesy or not, we need to grow continually in discernment. How do we discern the voice of God's prophets from those who distort and abuse power? How be still and hear God speak in our hearts?
  • We tend to hear from our limited frame of reference colored by fears and desires. Only the pure of heart hear God's truth. The rest of us tinge it with illusion, thus we may feel duped.
  • Unless we are already wholly pure of heart, we don't want to hear that we must first change our lives. Only then are our hearts receptive to God's building and planting.
  • Prophets then and now endure criticism and denial. We protest the still, small voice. It seems easier to resolve not to be God's instrument. Yet the passionate love of God prevails. They, and we, must be true to God and self.
  • What is God's truth? It registers in the heart. It rings true in wisdom. On the deepest level the prophetic voice and discernment are rooted in the love of God not from fear. The call to repentance is to let go of being confirmed to the pseudo-powers of this world, influenced by advertising or the contorted perceptions of people of hubris, tyrants often projecting their points of view as God's will.
  • It we are called to be prophets, we must trust wholly in God. If we hear both prophets and false prophets, may we discern together God's voice and take actions for the God of the Hebrews is the God who acts.

Romans 12:1-2

  • How can we surrender our whole being to God except by God's mercies, guided by the Spirit? Even when we believe we have given ourselves wholly we still need this reminder as a reality check, an exercise in humility.
  • Flowing from humility we find the grace to be transformed, wholly responding in Spirit, releasing hubris and illusion. It is by the Spirit's renewal of our mind that we come to clarity of discernment, whether in the gathered body of Christ with a spiritual companion or from established practice of lectio divina and contemplation--or all three.
  • The invitation is to listen with the ear of our heart and discern with the eye of our heart that prophetic voice addressing us, whether in scripture, the breath of a sacred companion, or the voice of a child.

Matthew 16:21-27

  • Jesus' prophesying his passion, death, and resurrection destroys the apostles' hope for political transformation. What will become of them if Jesus dies? What of the kingdom? Illusion is shattered.
  • Peter rebukes Jesus and he retorts, calling Peter tempter and a scandal.
  • Have we felt another was in an illusory relationship with us? Have we awakened starkly from dream to reality? Jesus calls us to let go of our puny selves for fullness of life in Christ transcends our earthbound existence. This is transformation.
  • Whether in chronos or kairos, the glorified Christ will come and judge us, not so much on our theology or words as on our relationships and actions.