XXII Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Journeying towards full conversion: acting, feeling and thinking like Christ Readings: Jeremiah 20: 7-9 / Psalm 63 / Romans 12: 1-2 / Matthew 16: 21-27
What does it mean to experience religious conversion or have a conversion moment that changes your life? For some, conversion means turning away from harmful behavior and immoral ways of living. For many, it has a lot to do with how we treat others. An authentic religious conversion affects the soul, body and, especially as we hear in the second reading and the way Jesus firmly corrects Peter in the Gospel, the mind.
St. Paul calls us to conversion: “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Jesus forcefully admonishes the leader of the apostles, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” These two powerful messages teach us volumes on the meaning of conversion: the mind must be transformed into a new way of thinking and recognizing the will of God and how our lives must be turned around. Conversion, in short, also concerns how we think and what we think.
The term for this is “metanoia,” from the Greek “meta-noiein” which signifies to change one’s mind, repent,” as you will find in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It sounds simple enough, but such a change is, in real life, not always easily made. It requires clarity of mind and humility.
This is the challenge Jesus lays out before Peter and all of us who seek to follow him. More than a change of thinking or opinion, the mind must be transformed. We must view the world from Christ’s perspective. What we think is not a private matter if it keeps us from being true to him. Christ must be the standard. Even political viewpoints must be subjected to him.
St. Peter likely had good intentions when he said to Jesus, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Good intentions and a good heart are important, but sometimes not enough. Our God-given intellect must also be brought in line with Christ and exercise its true function in seeking wisdom and moving us to act justly.
Ideas and thoughts need faith and compassion to be made authentic and visible in our lives and the world around us. Feelings and sympathies need clear-minded thinking that seeks to express in real time what our faith in Christ calls us to do. A common adage repeats, “Mercy without justice becomes sentimentalism; justice without mercy becomes tyranny.”
The painful scourge of racism that continues to persist in our time is a prime example. Many are the reasons that surface in our minds which can serve to justify or dismiss that and other truly sinful realities. The mind can hold us back. The mind can seek to diminish the fullness of Christ’s teaching and example.
One of the prophets of our recent history, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., challenged our society and, indeed, our world to move from admitting the good to thinking the good and acting on it. In one of his best known sermons, Love in Action, he warns of the danger of a blindness that can set in when our minds and hearts are not reconciled: “Intellectual and moral blindness is a dilemma that man inflicts upon himself by his tragic misuse of freedom and his failure to use his mind to its fullest capacity. One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right if the head is totally wrong. Only through the bringing together of head and heart – intelligence and goodness – shall man rise to a fulfillment of his true nature.”
King struggled against hate and violence in our society as well as against good intentions and calls for waiting that only allowed injustice to fester, that allowed suffering to continue.
Christ calls us to think as God does and to let even our minds be converted and transformed. In our minds we must recognize evil and injustice. Our hearts must be repulsed by what grieves the Holy Spirit in our day and age. In our minds we must decide, “enough,” and be willing to think, speak and act in a manner that expresses our faith.
Allow yourselves to be like the “Good Samaritan” and be moved with compassion at the sight of what others suffer. Be like Christ who looked upon the multitudes of people and went to feed, heal and teach them. He did so, because first he thought of them as his beloved children.
In his conversation with Jesus, Peter seems to want the best for Jesus and us, but he failed to recognize that salvation required the greatest commitment and the greatest love of all: what Jesus Christ was willing to do and did.
We will understand the meaning of life when we are willing to wrap our hearts and minds around Christ and his way of feeling, thinking and acting. Even when our faith demands it, changing our way of thinking and our viewpoints can be difficult. When the change is made because of Christ, then we will understand that he touches hearts and minds, our included. Feelings, thoughts and opinions can come and go, but Christ remains and he invites us to remain in him and to be focused on where his presence is needed most and be willing to share his love there.