Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest
Every time I complete a Myers Briggs Type Indicator I come back pretty close to the middle on the introvert vs. extrovert scale, however when I’m in a room with people I don’t know the introvert in me comes out. I have to work to think of questions to ask people and ways to find common ground so that we can build a conversation and possibly a friendship. I’m an awkward person, I can’t hide it – but I can do my best to embrace it and still help others feel comfortable enough to engage with me. I imagine for extroverts these situations can take work as well (I’m theorizing a bit here). Yes, the words come out naturally but typically extroverts have to work to listen, to pause, to breathe even. No matter who we are, getting to know someone else from scratch takes work.
Similarly, coming to know Christ for our own lives takes work. In the first reading we learn that under the new covenant with Israel and Judah God is no longer going to hold our hand so that we may encounter God. Instead we will have a natural desire to come to know God more fully through Jesus as our savior. Our sins and wrongdoing will be forgiven since we will inherently come to know the Lord by looking within and around ourselves. Jesus may know quite a bit about ourselves but we must put forth the effort to see Christ within us and is specifically written upon our hearts. It’s this process that leads us to discover a personal relationship with God through Jesus and we come to identify who Jesus is. If we put forth the effort and engage in this process we will be able to answer the same question Jesus confronts the disciples with in today’s Gospel – “who do you say that I am?”
Given how things have been going in life recently, who might you say that Jesus is for you right now? Are you willing to put forth the effort to build a relationship with God through Jesus? What does or might that effort look like for right now? What’s a small step you can make to acknowledge God as written upon your own heart? Similar to Peter, how might you attune your thinking towards God rather than human concerns?
St. John Vianney, although our dedication to Christ might be a fraction of your own, we pray that as we celebrate your feast today your example might drive us to know Christ more fully and to help us to share our faith with others courageously. Amen.
- Mike Bennett