Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024)

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The Greatest Teacher.

The most violent movie I ever saw—incinerated bodies pulled from the wreckage, body parts spewed all over the road, organs on the inside of the body now on the outside, blood and gore-filled scenes—the most violent movie I saw was at sixteen and half years old at my first class at A & B Auto School. After the documentary, a petite woman, who was someone’s grandmother, came to the front of the class and said, “So that is what happens when you do not follow the rules; that is what happens when you drink and drive; that is what happens when you drive over the speed limit; that is what happens when you take your eye off of the road to change the radio station. That is why we have rules. Rules are our friends. So let’s learn the rules.”

About fifteen years later, I was driving high school students from the church youth group to a homeless shelter. It was our turn to cook there. I would slow down at the yellow light, make complete stops at the stop signs, and move slowly through busy neighborhoods. Apparently, I did not drive like the older siblings of the kids in the car, and one of them grew impatient with me and said, “You drive like my grandmother.” I retorted, “The person who taught me to drive was a grandmother.” My point in all of this is that great teachers do not just impart facts or even inspire us. They are models; we become like them. When we say that Jesus was a great teacher in the Bible, it means that He is our model so we can become like Him.

One day in Corinth, Christians who knew and interacted with Christ showed up at the church. They were elegantly dressed, well-financed, and spoke with lots of experience behind them. They told stories about the time Jesus was with them. The church was indeed impressed and fascinated with the stories about what Jesus did and said in front of these witnesses. At one point, Paul arrived. Naturally, he was beat up by the travels and a mess from the rejection that he received from the authorities. He had no money in his pocket. The Corinthians ridiculed him, wondering, “Who is this hobo.” They laughed at him as if he was a loser. He embarrassed them and they preferred to get their teaching from the richly resourceful visitors. The rejection naturally hurt Paul, but he won them back. This is what he said, “Yes, to you, I look like a loser, but this is what you look like when you carry the cross. This is what you look like when you make sacrifices for others. This is what you look like when the authorities reject you. This is what you look like when your prayers are answered. This is what you look like when you work hard for Christ. This is what you look like when people when you make a difference in people’s lives.”

This is the faith lesson. When we say that Christ is our teacher, it does not mean that Jesus offers us facts and knowledge. It means that Jesus is our model. This leaves us with the question: do we look like Christ?