'Those who lose their life for my sake will save it.' Sunday Reflections, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Apostle Peter in Prison, Rembrandt, 1631

Israel Museum, Jerusalem [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Gospel Luke 7:9:18-24 (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

 Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

Sir Thomas More, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527

Frick Collection, New York [Web Gallery of Art]

On 12 June 2013 the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland stated in the Dáil (parliament) in the context of legislation that the government eventually pushed through that allows abortion in certain situations: I am proud to stand here as a public representative, as a Taoiseach who happens to be a Catholic but not a Catholic Taoiseach. A Taoiseach for all of the people – that's my job.

A number of columnists and writers of letters to the editor in Ireland praised Mr Kenny for this and contrasted it with words spoken by Labour TD (Member of Parliament) Brendan Corish in the Dáil in 1953: I am an Irishman second, I am a Catholic first, and I accept without qualification in all respects the teaching of the hierarchy and the church to which I belong. This statement has been frequently, incorrectly attributed to a previous Taoiseach of the same Fine Gael party as Mr Kenny, John A. Costello. However,  Mr Costello, as Taoiseach, said in 1951: I, as a Catholic, obey my Church authorities and will continue to do so, in spite of The Irish Times or anything else . . . 

Today's second reading, Galatians 3:26-29) is very relevant to all of this, and not only in Ireland. St Paul says to us: for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring^, heirs according to the promise. (NRSV-CE).

Though the Second Reading on Sundays in Ordinary Time isn't linked thematically with the Gospel, as the First Reading is, St Paul's words tie in with the question Jesus put to the Apostles and puts to us now: But who do you say that I am?

Who is at the centre of my life? Pope Benedict frequently reminded us that our faith is above all in a Person, Jesus Christ, God who became Man. And Pope Francis, in his homily on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christ) 2013 said, So let us ask ourselves this evening, in adoring Christ who is really present in the Eucharist: do I let myself be transformed by him? Do I let the Lord who gives himself to me, guide me to going out ever more from my little enclosure, in order to give, to share, to love him and others?

1955 All-Ireland Football Final programme [Wikipedia]

St Paul's words challenge us to ask ourselves, 'What is my deepest identity?' We have many levels of identity, each of which has its own importance. I remember my first All-Ireland Football Final in Croke Park, Dublin, in September 1955. Dublin were playing against Kerry. I was there, aged 12 and standing on an orange-box, with my father, John, like myself a true 'Dub', and a neighbour and friend just a few doors up the street, Denis Stritch, who died in 2013, God rest his soul. Denis was from Kerry. During the game, the result of which was disappointing for me and my Dad, we identified with Dublin and Kerry, rivals but not enemies.

But if Denis and my Dad had ever visited me in the Philippines they would have identified themselves as Irish. However, if they had attended Mass in Bacolod City they would have identified themselves as Catholic Christians, as would everyone else present. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek . . .

This is our most basic identity.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, St Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5. When Jesus puts his question to the Apostles, But who do you say that I am? Peter answers clearly. The Messiah of God.

Whether I am a janitor or a journalist, a priest or a politician, I am called by my baptism to live out of my identity as a son or daughter of the Father, a brother or sister of Jesus, in the service of all my brothers and sisters. Pope Francis concluded his Corpus Christi homily with these words, Brothers and sisters, following, communion, sharing. Let us pray that participation in the Eucharist may always be an incentive: to follow the Lord every day, to be instruments of communion and to share what we are with him and with our neighbour. Our life will then be truly fruitful. Amen.

In most situations there is no conflict whatever between my various levels of identity. My being a Catholic Christian is not in conflict with my being an Irishman. But if I take my baptism seriously I can never leave 'the mind of Christ' at home or outside. In most areas of life Christians may legitimately disagree on issues while living their baptismal faith with all their hearts. Sometimes I have to yield on matters that I may not be happy with but that aren't fundamental. Politicians, for example have to do this all the time, as do the rest of us on many occasions. But when it comes to matters of life and death I cannot, as a Christian, put the Gospel aside, as if 'the mind of Christ' was a T-shirt that I wear now and again.    

St Thomas More (1478 - 1535), patron saint of statesmen, politicians and lawyers, whose feast day is this coming Wednesday, 22 June, gave his life because he put his identity as a Catholic Christian before anything else. Just before his execution he said, I die his Majesty's good servant, but God's first. He recognised his erstwhile friend King Henry VIII as King of England but not as head of the Church.

That was St Thomas's response to St Paul's words this Sunday, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, to the question of Jesus, But who do YOU say that I am?

How do I answer that question?

Antiphona at introitum   Entrance Antiphon Cf Ps 27[28]:8-9

Dominus fortitudo plebis suae,

The Lord is the strength of his people,

et protector salutarium Christi sui est.

a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.

Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine,

Save your people, Lord,

et benedict hereditati tuae, 

and bless your heritage,

et rege eos usque in saeculum.

and govern them for ever.

Ad te, Domine, clamabo, Deus meus,

To you, 0 Lord, I call; 0 my God, 

ne sileas a me: 

be not deaf to me,

ne quando taceas a me, 

lest, if you heed me not,

et assimilabor descendentibus in lacum. 

I become one of those going down into the pit.

Gloria Patri et Filii et Spiritui sancto

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper 

As it was in the beginning, is now

Et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

And will be for ever. Amen. 

Dominus fortitudo plebis suae,

The Lord is the strength of his people,

et protector salutarium Christi sui est.

a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.

Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine,

Save your people, Lord,

et benedict hereditati tuae, 

and bless your heritage,

et rege eos usque in saeculum.

and govern them for ever.

The video has the longer version of the Introit as used in the Mass in the Extraordinary Form, often referred to as 'The Traditional Latin Mass' or 'TLM'. The text used in the Ordinary Form of the Mass is in bold, in Latin and in English.