First Trinity Sunday between Johnstide and Michaelmas
Jeana Lee
Rev. Bastiann Baan’s latest homily can be found here….
Mark 8:27-9:1
In the book of Genesis, God gives humanity the task of naming all of the animals. Names are powerful. Perhaps we have had the experience of learning the name of a particular animal, or plant, or maybe a tree, and then walking down a familiar street and suddenly seeing all of the trees of that kind as if for the first time. It is as if they exist, newly, through our recognizing them.
We see something similar with children, when their parents put a name to their experience, reflect back to to the child what they experience, the child can take hold of it and understand it. The experience becomes somehow more real. Even as adults, becoming conscious and naming it, recognizing it, allows us to take it in more deeply. And when we ourselves are recognized, truly seen, we feel our own reality and are empowered to express ourselves more fully.
In this week’s Gospel reading, Christ asks the disciples if they recognize him. And Peter does, he sees him and names him: ‘you are the Christ.’ This enables him to work more fully, more deeply, because of this recognition. He truly becomes the Christ for the ones who recognize him.
We too can come to recognize him, to recognize and name when he is working in our lives. When we bring this into our consciousness, we can participate in his activity. It becomes more real, more powerful. He works in us through our conscious participation.
-Rev. Jeana Lee, July 25, 2021