So here we are at the seemingly benign Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time. So many major holidays of the church have already come and gone this calendar year, and we are on the cusp of some great ones, not the least being the Advent and Christmas seasons. And some of us have survived the summer seasons and onset of the school year. A new pace begins.
We sit through today’s first two readings and think “This is indeed an ordinary Sunday.” And then . . . . we rise to hear the Gospel. The wonderful words of Matthew when we hear what I like to call the Commissioning of Peter. It’s not, but I’m a bit quirky.
I was raised as a Protestant. If you weren’t, perhaps Peter’s role in our Church isn’t as significant to you, but me, I always struggled with how my former church explained this bit of the gospel. Even as a Protestant, I saw Peter as “different,” elevated. I believed based on albeit my rudimentary understanding of scripture that his story was not being properly conveyed by my leadership, and that he and his followers deserved much more consideration. It was clear that something very special happened here!
As time passed, I was pulled more and more in this direction and by the time I was an undergraduate in college, I was surrounded very coincidently by good friends who were all very faithful to their Catholic faith. I also bumped into a wonderful Catholic priest in those pre-RCIA times who walked me through a great conversion process. It felt as natural and as meant to be as taking my next breath.
Peter. The rock of this Church. And we all heard the story as we went to Mass on this “ordinary” Sunday (Matthew 16: 13-20). May we continue to be surprised and blessed at every Mass we participate in. Dare I suggest that no Mass is ordinary? Yes, we receive the Eucharist, but there is so much else there as well that will be that striking point in our heart and soul.
Peace be with all of us!
Comments