{"id":6781,"date":"2014-09-06T21:02:35","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6781"},"modified":"2014-09-06T21:02:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:02:56","slug":"how-camaraderie-influences-commitment-21st-sunday-of-ordinary-time-24-08-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6781","title":{"rendered":"How Camaraderie Influences Commitment. 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (24.08.14)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (24.08.14)<\/h4>\n
How Camaraderie Influences Commitment<\/strong>2014 has seen significant commemorations at home and abroad of the World Wars. The media highlights individual heroes or heroines because the public prefers personal stories. This inevitably means less coverage of the rank and file camaraderie-inspired commitment among Armed Service personnel. Individual survivors, in their interviews, frequently referred to how their departed comrades influenced their own sense of commitment in battle.Camaraderie-inspired commitment happens in various circumstances. There\u2019s the ephemeral, quickly dissipated \u2018commitment\u2019 of thousands at a sports event instantaneously vocalizing encouragement or condemnation of the action or word of a player or contestant. By contrast, the camaraderie-built commitment of World War 2 troops deepened over time in their preparations for the \u2018D Day\u2019 landings. Those military types knew each other\u2019s strengths and weaknesses having honed their mutual respect in the tough school of the military. Their camaraderie-built commitment had depth, endurance and dependability. The 2010 TV series \u2018A Band of Brothers\u2019, as well as more recent productions, have portrayed admirable camaraderie-inspired commitment among those under fire.Jesus, as depicted in this Sunday\u2019s Gospel extract (Matt 16: 13-20) had travelled with his \u2018novice\u2019 disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi with its impressive rock formations. This inland region was bordered by what we, today, know as \u2018The Golan Heights\u2019, a UN patrolled buffer zone between Syria and Israel.In this geographically uncompromising region Jesus chose to probe the commitment levels of his still-in-formation disciples. He asked:\u00a0\u201cWho do people say that the Son of Man is?\u201d\u00a0<\/em>The disciples passed on what they had heard from people in the villages and settlements through which they had passed. Then, Jesus asked them directly:\u201cBut you, who do you say that I am?\u201d<\/em>Hearing this Gospel extract, you can almost sense how a chatty group suddenly fell silent. Vocalising the opinions of others is very different from nailing your own colours to the mast, as the saying goes. You can almost visualise the uncomfortable shuffling of feet by the disciples and observe their avoidance of eye contact not only with Jesus but also with one another. Matthew\u2019s Gospel gives no indication of how long the embarrassed silence lasted.<\/p>\n

It was Peter who broke the silence. He spoke clearly and precisely:\u00a0\u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0As a declaration of both faith and of theological truth for all time, it was more profound and penetrating than Peter or his companions were capable of uttering without Divine assistance. The in-depth implications of Peter\u2019s declaration would not have been clear, at that time, to either Peter or his companion disciples. Only later, with the gift of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, would these novices have entered the process of appreciating Jesus\u2019 teaching.<\/p>\n

Scripture commentators say that the Holy Spirit inspired Peter\u2019s declaration for the good of Peter and his community. For this to be, Peter must have been open to God\u2019s will being effective in his life. Without Peter\u2019s acquiescence, no inspired statement could have been made. Theologians have never been, nor will they ever be, able to improve on the completeness of Peter\u2019s theological definition of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.<\/p>\n

There is such a thing as innate human awareness that allows us to believe in a truth while still not fully comprehending it. Is this what happened to Peter? Clearly, Peter believed not only that he was compelled to speak out but also in what he said. Did Peter\u2019s proclamation enable his companions to experience their own innate awareness of this truth that was still beyond their full comprehension? Was this an instance of camaraderie-inspired commitment?<\/p>\n

You may have been present when a young child, with an age related level of intelligence, has declaimed with conviction a truth that has silenced adults? More to the point, are we open to offering ourselves, daily, to God as people willing to speak his truth whenever and wherever his Spirit prompts us?<\/p>\n

The point in our proclaiming the Creed together at Mass each Sunday is surely to help us refocus, after a week of distracting temptations, on who we are and why we are. Do we appreciate the shared prayer of the Creed as an intended refreshment of our communal commitment, our Baptismal camaraderie, before we separate again to our individual and family weekday lives? Through the Mass we are recommitting ourselves to remaining alert to God\u2019s Holy Spirit when his truth needs to be vocalised or exemplified, through us, for the benefit of another or others.<\/p>\n

For his part, Jesus recognised, in Peter\u2019s declaration, a sign of his heavenly Father\u2019s will for Peter. This led Jesus to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.<\/em>
\n\u00a0For 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.<\/em>
\nI 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Our moments of significant experience do not happen in a void. Many married people, for example, remember in some detail the location where they first declared their mutual love. So physical settings have their part to play in reinforcing our memories of some events.<\/p>\n

Jesus had chosen Caesarea Philippi with its impressive rock formations. The setting was a perfect backdrop for Jesus\u2019 confirmation of Peter role in the Church \u2013 \u201cAnd 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\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>Peter and his companions would have reason to recall their physical surroundings that day.<\/p>\n

Might this Gospel extract provide us with an opportunity to reflect how an individual or a congregation, along with the location, helped underpin our crucial memories of moments when we either received or began to appreciate God\u2019s truth? Such a reflection could lead us to a deeper appreciation of God\u2019s gifts.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis said recently that never before has there been such intensive persecution of Christians or so many instances of martyrdom as now. The Pope\u2019s claim may have shocked people who, previously, associated the persecution to death of Christians as something more associated with the early Church.<\/p>\n

If, for you, the Pope\u2019s claim is a wake-up call, then please do be woken up! We all need to upgrade our awareness of what is a daily reality for many of our Christian sisters and brothers.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 declaration \u2013 \u201cand the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it (the Church)\u201d<\/em>\u00a0implies not that we live safely behind high walls, like the residents of some modern gated-community, but that the forces of Satan will be continually testing the Sacrament-nourished, camaraderie-inspired commitment of God\u2019s Baptised. Terrifyingly, an untold number of our Baptised sisters and brothers have been duped into unconcerned ignorance of the battle for their souls being conducted with devilish cleverness by Satan.<\/p>\n

Though it doesn\u2019t form part of this Sunday\u2019s Gospel extract, what Jesus had to say to Peter in Luke 22:31ff. Is apt for inclusion here:<\/p>\n

\u201cSimon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.<\/em>
\nBut I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.\u00a0<\/em>
\nAnd when you have turned back, strengthen your brethren.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Someone once said: \u2018Without commitment there is no depth in a relationship. \u2019The strengthening of our worldwide family is the daily vocation of Pope Francis with each of us in a camaraderie-inspired supporting commitment of prayer and fasting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (24.08.14) How Camaraderie Influences Commitment2014 has seen significant commemorations at home and abroad of the World Wars. The media highlights individual heroes or heroines because the public prefers personal stories. This inevitably means less coverage … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6781"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6783,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6781\/revisions\/6783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}