Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin
Today's Mass Readings
In the comedy Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell plays the role of a NASCAR driver whose family is falling apart around him. In one memorable scene, his family and friends are gathered together for a holiday dinner of fast food. Prior to the meal, Will Ferrell’s character announces that he will say a prayer, and he proceeds to pray to “baby Jesus.” This sparks a theological debate at the dinner table about which Jesus is the “best” Jesus, and it becomes clear that Will Ferrell’s character has reduced Jesus to an ornament in his life. It also becomes clear, that each person at the dinner table has formed a concept of Jesus that is more a reflection of the individual than of Jesus. While we may laugh at this scene, when we think about this fictional families ridiculous behavior, we might ask ourselves whether or not we are laughing because, at some level, the scene describes with disturbing accuracy, the temptation to convert Jesus into a friend who is around to validate our behavior, instead of recognizing him as the person that he really is. In today’s Gospel reading, we find Jesus expressing his displeasure at communities that have failed to know and respond to him. Specifically, Jesus is noting the ingratitude of the people of two cities where he has performed several significant acts. Despite witnessing these acts, the people of the communities have not repented; they have not changed. Instead, after witnessing numerous great deeds by Jesus, they have simply marginalized him and returned to their normal routine. While it seems likely that they may have periodically thought about Jesus and his acts, these thoughts were never converted into a response. Jesus makes it clear that the people in these cities will be judged for their failure to respond.
How could people who personally interacted with Jesus and witnessed several of his most significant acts fail to respond? How could this be possible? It might have been possible then for the same reason that it is possible now. Today, we know the facts of Jesus’ life, including his death and Resurrection, yet like the cities in today’s readings, we find a way to live our lives without confronting the response that Jesus asks of us. Jesus did not say I love you so do whatever you want - it’s all good. To the contrary, Jesus asks us to respond to God’s love by following a life that is consistent with the Gospel.
Following the path that the Gospel lays out is certainly not easy, and we are tempted to attenuate the requested response by watering it down into something that requires no change on our part. It should be our goal to change our lives to conform to the Gospel, not to change the Gospel to conform to our lives. If we fail to do this, we risk becoming a caricature like those in the movie described above, but in real life, that caricature is not funny, it’s tragic.
- John Sperino