Total Submission And Conformity To Christ

Readings: 1st: Jer 20, 7-9; Ps 63; 2nd: Rom 12, 1-2; Gos: Mt 16, 21-27

This brief reflection was written by Fr. Njoku Canice Chukwuemeka, C.S.Sp. He is a Catholic Priest and a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans). He is a missionary in Puerto Rico. He is the Parish Priest of Parroquia la Resurrección del Senor, Canóvanas, and the Major Superior of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans), Circumscription of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. He was the chancellor of the Diocese of Fajardo Humacao, Puerto Rico. Fr. Canice is a member of the Academy of Homiletics. For more details and comments contact him at: canice_c_njoku@yahoo.com, canicechukwuemeka@gmail.com

(https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8452-8392)

Today, the twenty-second Sunday of ordinary times, the church encourages us to overcome all reluctance and obstacles and to surrender ourselves to Christ completely. Hence, all the readings of this Sunday lean towards total submission and conformity to Christ.

Available now on

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1179451

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094YSGTZF

In the first reading, Jeremiah lamented: “Lord, you have seduced me; you have overpowered me.” He complained about the toughness of his mission. Lord God, you did not tell me it was this difficult! Of course, at the beginning of his call, he resisted God, making excuses: “Lord God, truly I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy.” However, God insisted that He had chosen him even from his mother’s womb. (Jer 1:4-10).

Jeremiah’s resistance, submission, and ordeal tell us that nothing can prevent the mission of God, not even our resistance. This is especially when his hands are upon one. Though Jeremiah resisted, he eventually submitted to God: “And I have let myself be seduced.” He conformed to God’s will and was no longer in charge of himself. Instead, the word of God burned like fire in him, and he could no longer resist preaching it.

After submitting to God, Jeremiah, who was very timid and did not know how to speak, became transformed. There is much mystery in God! We over assume that our mission must be easy at all times. Unfortunately, it is not always so. Faithfulness to God sometimes brings us trials, disappointments, and even sufferings. At times, he allows us to experience horrific pains. However, despite all these, He shields and blesses us.

In the second reading, Paul employed the language of grace rather than law to implore us: “Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” Here, Paul calls us to submit to God without resistance and reservation. To present our bodies is to submit our faculties and the totality of our being. It is total surrender to God. This total surrender is essential to a life of righteousness, joy, peace, and victory in Christ.

Of course, to offer oneself entirely means accepting all that comes with it. In his second call today, Paul insists that we must conform to Christ rather than to this world. When we offer ourselves entirely to God, we can conform to Christ. Conformity to Christ means living like Christ.

It means participating in his life and death with our eyes fixed on his glory. It means that Christ now lives and works in us through the Holy Spirit (Gal 2, 20). This was what the glorious saints did. They submitted and conformed to Christ by participating in his life, death, and resurrection. Now, they participate in His glory.

In today’s gospel, we see the irony of life. The same Peter who proclaimed that Christ was the messiah last week is today rebuked as “Satan.” Christ rebuked him for being an obstacle to his mission. This shows that though Peter professed that Christ is the Messiah (as God revealed it to him), he has not fully understood the nature of Christ’s mission.

He still sees it only from the perspective of royalty and glory. Of course, he was eager to participate in these. This also teaches us that we are all vulnerable to making mistakes and falling, no matter how spiritual we are. So, we must take the admonition of Paul seriously: “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he falls” (1Cor 10:12).

Peter could not understand why Christ should be talking this way. However, God’s call is not only about participating in his glory but also participating first in his suffering. This is what Christ did. That He offered himself as a living sacrifice means that he submitted everything without reluctance for our salvation. However, Peter has not realized the necessity of Christ’s death: “it is better for one man to die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” (Jn 11:50).

Peace be with you all!

Maranatha!