The Clone Wars

Knowing ourselves when we get to know Christ

08/27/2017

Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

            Do you know who you are? To make that question a little more concrete, how would you complete the sentence: “I am a …?” Perhaps you’d say, “I am a mom,” and that’s a wonderful thing! I love my mom, and she loves me! Or, maybe you’d answer, “I am a business man.” That’s a good thing, too, because you provide jobs for people and then they can put more money in the collection on Sunday. Most of us would proudly say, “I am a Razorback!” You better not say “I am an LSU Tiger!” I’m sorry, but I’ll have to excommunicate you. Maybe you’d use ideological terms like “I am a conservative,” or “I am a liberal.” Perhaps we’d answer patriotically, with hand over heart, “I am an American.” This is how we define ourselves, our self-understanding.

               Now, let me take this line of reasoning a step further. How would you define a human being in general? How would you complete the sentence, “A human being is …”? About 20 years ago, some precocious 8th graders asked me this question in a religion class. We were discussing cloning, and one student asked: “Fr. John, if we cloned a human being, would it have a soul?” Wow, that was from a 13 year old! My answer surprised even me, when I said: “Well, if the clone could kneel down and pray to God, then it would be proof that he or she had a soul, and moreover proof that it was truly human, because a human is a sort of hybrid being. How so? Well, we are both like the animals, but we are also like the angels.” That’s how I would define a human being: a human being is a hybrid – a composite – of soul and body, animal and angel, of earthly origins but with a heavenly destiny. That understanding of human nature – what people are in general – should complement our self-understanding. That is, if we are to be more than clones – people who are good moms and businessmen and Hog fans – we also have to pray. And I don’t just mean pray at Razorback games so they win. To be human is to connect to God through prayer.

              In the gospel today, Jesus is seeking some self-understanding, too, or so it seems. He asks his apostles: “Who do people say that I am?” Now, is Jesus really confused about his identity? Of course not. As usual, though, Jesus’ every word and action has many layers of meaning; let me share with you just one such layer. What happens when he asks about his own identity? Peter pops up and says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus immediately replies: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” Notice how Peter’s identity and self-understanding were linked to knowing who Jesus is. When Peter discovered Jesus, Peter likewise discovered Peter! Henceforth, Peter would answer the question, “Who are you?” by saying, “I am Peter, the rock on which Jesus will build his Church.” Peter was no longer a clone – an obscure fisherman from Galilee – but he was a Christian, a man who prays, who has a connection to God, and therefore really a connection to himself, he knows himself.

               The Second Vatican Council made this connection between God and man crystal clear in the document called “Gaudium et spes” which means “Joy and hope.” It reads, “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word [that is Jesus] does the mystery of man take on light.” It goes on to say: “Christ…fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (Gaudium et spes, 22). In other words, when Peter answered correctly the question, “Who is Jesus? “he found the answer to the question, “Who is Peter?” Peter was no longer a mystery to himself. Through a conversation with Christ – that’s the best definition of prayer – Peter overcome being a mere clone (a mere fisherman) and emerged a Christian. To be human is to connect to God through prayer.

             Let me ask you my original question again: Do you know who you are? Another way to ask that same question now is “Do you pray?” Why are those just two ways of asking the same question? Well, because prayer is our connection to God, and God is our connection to ourselves. If you don’t pray, you’re little more than a clone. You’ve touched the animal side of your nature, but not the angelic; you know you have a body, but don’t realize you have a soul; you know your journey began on earth, but don’t know it will end in heaven. You’re a clone, not a Christian.

             Let me give you two tips about prayer, so it’s a little easier and not so overwhelming. First, you can pray anywhere and everywhere, at any time and all the time, not just in church. You can pray as your drive down the road (you may not curse at other drivers), you can pray as you fall asleep at night, you can pray you win the lottery, like Mavis Wanczyk. St. Theresa of Lisieux gave a great definition of prayer: “raising of our minds and hearts to God.” Have a conversation with Christ, like St. Peter did, and you’ll get to know Jesus better, and in the bargain, also get to know yourself better.

Secondly, pray with your heart, not just your lips. Even a clone can mouth the words of a prayer, but they have no soul to send them to heaven. Don’t make the mistake of Hamlet’s uncle, King Claudius, who had murdered Hamlet’s father to usurp the throne of Denmark. Claudius was a clone mouthing the words of prayer when he said: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts, never to heaven go” (Hamlet, III, 3). Claudius was a clone, and not a Christian, because he failed to pray with his heart and soul.

             Who are you? A mom, a businessman, a Razorback, an American? Good, those are all good things to be. But those are all things that a clone can do, too. If you want to be more than a clone, if you want to be a Christian, then you must pray, you must connect with Christ. “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light...Christ…fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear.” These are the real clone wars.

Praised be Jesus Christ!