Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
We recently borrowed a book from the library called Magnus Maximus: A Marvelous Measurer. I actually can't tell you if I recommend it, because none of my kids will sit through the whole thing except the 7 week old, and as you can imagine, she seems pretty unimpressed. However, as I read today's Gospel, the book came to mind because there seems to be a word spoken to us concerning our desire to measure up.
The words that caught my attention were these, "When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 'Lord, what about him?' Jesus said to him, 'What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me'." These words brought to mind some conversations I've had about salvation. Maybe you've had similar interactions. Its the conversation where, intentionally or unintentionally, you look at other people's lives to figure out, just how strong of believer is Jesus looking for in us? We have to be better than Hitler, sure, but do we have to be as extreme as Francis Assisi?
We do that on a hypothetical level, but we also do this with people we know closely. We might see the 'super holy family' and just as we start feeling inadequate, we see the family that we've judged as worse. Then all is right in our little minds because at least we're better than the 'Iscariots.'
To all of these situations we have the words of Jesus, "What concern is it of yours? You follow me." This scene might be in Jesus' top 5 snarky moments in the Gospel. But we need his bluntness! The temptation to size ourselves up against other believers is real and has been since at least Peter. And since Peter we've had to remember, our true measuring stick is Christ himself.
Spencer Hargadon