Sermon Central
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Jesus Is My Pandemic Identity (Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time)
Contributed by Dr. John Singarayar Svd on Aug 16, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: During the lockdown we have realised how many are real friends, how many are fake friends, how many have called us often enquiring about our families, health, jobs, and how many were really cared and supported in their difficulties and pains during this pandemic, COVID-19.
Jesus is my Pandemic Identity (Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Reflection
Dear sisters and brothers,
I would like to start my reflection with a question: what is my pandemic identity as a Christian?
In this digital world,
Everyone longs for popularity.
Everyone wants to be famous.
Everyone needs an identity.
There are people, who count on their lives with how many friends they have in Facebook and how many contacts they have in WhatsApp.
Often, we end up checking out ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ for our posts: photos and materials that we share in Facebook. We ponder over who liked and who didn’t like. We judge the persons based on it. Based on it, we decide our own identity.
We live in a virtual community rather than real people-oriented community.
During the lockdown we have realised how many are real friends, how many are fake friends, how many have called us often enquiring about our families, health, jobs, and how many were really cared and supported in their difficulties and pains during this pandemic, COVID-19.
On the other hand, there are political parties and individuals, who are busy spending their money to buy their popularity investing in bots. Most of the time, it is not a real person, who gives their likes and comments to their posts but bots.
We are influenced by these tricks and dirty political plans. We create our opinions on a political party or an individual based on how many are following them and what are the images created by the bots.
These identities are fake and bogus.
Sometimes, we give importance to what the other thinks, says, and expresses the opinion about us.
Our identity is decided by the others.
Can the others decide what I am?
No.
Then,
What is my identity?
Knowing oneself is the best identity that we can have in our lives.
We may believe what the other person says, we may believe what the other person thinks, and we may believe the other person’s opinion.
But, it cannot influence us when we know our identity by ourselves quite well.
What we know about our identity is limited and finite.
What we do not know about our identity is unlimited and infinite.
The universe is so vast.
I am a tiny creation.
If we are limited and finite, there is something unlimited and infinite, who controls the universe systematically.
Our belief and our faith, reveals that God, is the All-powerful, Almighty, who created each one of us and the creation of the world according to His purpose in a particular country, in a particular language, in a particular culture, in a particular ethnic group, in a particular caste, in a particular tradition, and in a particular situation.
God has a purpose in creating each and every thing and each one of us in a particular moment, in a particular time, and in a particular way.
Can we question this belief?
No.
Our experience in the world, shows us the way. We understand that we, as tiny creatures, are instruments in God’s hand.
He brings the best music out of these instruments according to His time.
We act as He wishes and according to His will in our lives, by which we find our identity.
To understand it, we have the text from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 16: 13-20):
“When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist,
others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my heavenly Father.
And so, I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one
that he was the Messiah.”
As I said in the beginning, we all are interested to know what the other thinks about us.
Identity is important.
It gives us meaning.
It is a human nature.
Nothing is wrong.
Psychologists say who you are and what you think by your postures, positions as you stand or sit or speak.
Biologists say who you are by your genes.
We can go on and on what the other thinks with different subjects.
