The Person of Christ

Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Leviticus 13.1-2, 44-46 Psalm 32 1 Cor. 10.31-11.1 Mark 1.40-45

Life is personal, not an idea. And so when Continental Airlines Flight 3407 crashed outside of Buffalo, New York, this week, it very quickly became a personal experience even for those of us who had no connections to those who died. Unfortunately, it seems like we are getting too familiar with tragedies like this and the stories of people’s lives that emerge from the midst of the wreckage. But there is something in our human psyche that urges us to make these experiences personal – our compassion and empathy recognizes the human face that is affected, not just the abstract idea of suffering and pain. And so, in the aftermath of such a tragedy, we need to hear about people like Mary Pettys, one of ten siblings from a family in Buffalo who was described as the rock of her family, and who had just gotten engaged. We need to hear about people like Alison des Forges, a human rights worker who helped to document and educate people on the horrors of the Rwandan genocide of the early 1990s. And, of course, we need to hear about people like Beverly Eckert, whose husband died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. These are not easy stories to hear, but they must be heard. For those of us who are far removed from this tragedy, it is through these personal stories that we can make a connection. Because life is personal, not an idea – and any tragedy has a story that must be told and a human being whose memory must be allowed to live.

I wonder if that kind of a personal connection is what St. Paul is trying to get the Corinthians to understand. He tells them today, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11.1). Even for those first generations of Christians, it was hard to know who Christ was, because they had never met him while he was on earth. As the years passed after Jesus ascended into heaven, he became more and more of an idea and less of a person. And that’s even truer for us. It’s easy for us to think about God, to have an idea about God. We think of God as being loving and compassionate, forgiving and merciful – as long as we understand the concepts of love and mercy. Intellectually, we know God created us, and that he has given us everything we have. But all these things are just ideas – to know God as a person, to have a relationship with God just like our relationship with a parent or a friend, well, that’s a whole different story. When it feels like God isn’t listening to us or has abandoned us, it’s probably because we’re stuck with only having an idea of God, and don’t really know him personally.

But the good news is that things don’t have to stay that way. St. Paul knew that the Corinthians were struggling with knowing Jesus Christ, but there was a way to help. St. Paul himself was blessed with a personal experience with Christ, and he had devoted his entire life to becoming more and more like Christ. And so, with humility, he could tell the Corinthians – look at me, try to be like me, because I am doing my best to be like Christ. Of course, St. Paul knew that he wasn’t Christ – but he imitated Christ as best he could. The people of Corinth could see Christ as a person – in the person of Paul – and not just as an idea. By looking at Paul, Christ had a face, a face they could connect with and understand.

But I wonder, could any of us say the same thing? With true humility and honesty, could we tell the people around us: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Can we be that personal connection, the face of Christ for the world today? Sadly, too often we’re not much like Christ at all. Our selfishness and laziness gets in the way, what love we have we keep bottled inside. But it doesn’t take perfection to imitate Christ – only Christ himself is perfect. It doesn’t take wisdom – only Christ is truly wise. What it takes is humility, prayer, a willingness to ask for forgiveness, and an unfailing desire to love. Even if we can only reflect one part of Christ, we can still be his light, we can still be his heart, we can still make him a person, and not just an idea.