{"id":71527,"date":"2026-08-27T17:58:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T22:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=71527"},"modified":"2026-08-27T17:59:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T22:59:01","slug":"ars-praedicandi-22nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/27\/ars-praedicandi-22nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Ars Praedicandi: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ed Foley, OFM Cap., June 24, 2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us can recall, often with a touch of nostalgia,
the unvarnished joy of the neighborhood sandbox.
It was a staple of backyards, schoolyards, and public parks
throughout many a childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these magical little arenas castles were built,
roads constructed
and young imaginations ran wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time these largely disappeared:
victim to maintenance hassles, stray animals,
and the messy reality of sand tracking through the kitchen,
which always horrified my OCD mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly enough
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the sandbox – a symbol of both design and delight –
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 has experienced a 21st<\/sup> century revival.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Its contemporary reconception has emerged as a useful tool – a digital playground – where software engineers and online educators
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 can tinker and test without cost or consequences \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 that is until, as recently revealed,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the digital sandbox has been exposed as
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a minefield of hidden vulnerabilities,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a springboard for unwelcome exploits,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and a porous containment field
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 from which rogue agents are capable of escape \u2026
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 even threatening the very security of the companies
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 they are meant to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it might seem somewhat inappropriate – possibly even sacrilegious \u2013
to suggest that discipleship with Jesus
was some kind of spiritual sandbox,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I yet believe this metaphor is appropriate
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 in light of today\u2019s Gospel
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 in which the Prince of the Apostles seems to go rogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these few verses from Matthew,
we hear an admittedly disturbing case
of an apostolic agent
intentionally abandoning the holy sandbox that
Jesus fashioned for training disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just moments before this scene,
Simon Peter reached the summit of his spiritual insight,
declaring the itinerant preacher from Nazareth to be:
the Christ, the Son of the living God.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was rightly impressed, dubbed him \u201cPetros,\u201d and
handed over the keys to the Kingdom \u2013 way to go Rocky!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, however, immediately following this epiphany,
as Jesus explains the operational parameters of His mission:
the trek to Jerusalem,
suffering at the hands of the elders,
public execution,
and a third day resurrection,
Peter not only goes rogue,
breaching the Jesus containment field,
but in his most audacious move ever –
with \u201cdoes not compute\u201d
looping through his Galilean brain –
Rocky presumes it is time to reprogram the Master
calculating that his own blueprint for
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 liberating Jews from Romans,|
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 boosting the Jesus ratings,
and maintaining a firm grip on those freshly minted keys,
clutched tightly in his hands,
is better than that of God\u2019s chosen one:
what holy chutzpah to claim the victory without the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While certainly a cautionary tale,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 it is also true that going rogue is not always a tragic mistake
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 or spiritual misstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtually every great saint metaphorically went rogue
from the sandbox or scrap heap of the world
– depending on your point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis of Assisi strayed from his societal sandbox
when he stripped naked in the public square,
rejecting his father\u2019s fortune in order to marry Lady Poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Katharine Drexel did the same
when she abandoned her multi-million-dollar inheritance
and high-society status
to serve oppressed Native and African Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Holiness itself might be considered
a journey out of the world\u2019s playground
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 into the crucible of God\u2019s own sandbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see echoes of this same maverick nonconformity
in the modern story of Arthur Brooks<\/a>.
For a decade, Brooks sat at the very epicenter of political power
as president of the American Enterprise Institute,
thriving inside a high-stakes bubble
built on maximizing influence
and vanquishing your ideological rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By every worldly metric he was winning the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, on a cross-country flight,
he overheard a world-famous American hero
– an Apollo astronaut who had actually walked on the moon –
miserably confessing to his wife that his life no longer mattered as he faded from the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At thirty thousand feet,
Brooks caught a chilling glimpse of his own future,
while the world\u2019s handbook was eating his humanity alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Brooks went rogue at the peak of his career,
shocking everyone by abandoning his privileged D.C. perch and devoting his life to a teaching career focused on
love, community, and genuine human happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you need not fret about Mr. Brooks,
who did not join an ashram in India
or enter the Capuchin novitiate,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 but is currently a senior fellow at Harvard Business School,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and a highly sought after speaker \u2026
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whose fees start at $50,000 \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

       I know, because I tried to book him for an event without success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His continued academic and financial achievements, however,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 do not diminish the life turn or dramatic career pivot
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 he ventured in his mid-50\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While Brooks was not a dancer \u2013 though a professional musician\u2013
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 his veering out of the corporate sandbox
– as one dancer theologian<\/a> suggests \u2013
is analogous to an exquisite yet devilishly difficult ballet step
known as the renvers\u00e9<\/em>,
a movement that completely defies human instincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In executing a renvers\u00e9<\/em>, the dancer
appears to throw their entire body off-balance,
arching backward into empty space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a terrifying second the dancer seems to be falling.
While the body bends backward into vulnerability,
the dancer’s head strains forward to restore equilibrium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only at the last possible moment
does the entire body snap forward to complete the rotation,
gracefully landing on a new center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We can say with some surety that Arthur Brooks
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 successfully executed his own renvers\u00e9<\/em>,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em> gracefully landing on his new happiness centered career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, at least in this instance,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter did not \u2026 and executed the equivalent
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of a crash and burn, or in balletesque language,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 not a pas de deux<\/em> but a pas de debacle<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was fighting the dance,
wanting to march forward into dominance and security,
but Christ demands of him and us that terrifying pivot,
a spiritual renvers\u00e9<\/em>,
falling back into complete vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his provocative tale of Alice\u2019s romp through the looking glass,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lewis Carroll offers a counterintuitive choreography that
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 illustrates the importance of the personal and spiritual renvers\u00e9<\/em>,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 seeing the world topsy-turvy if we are to reach our true goals.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Chapter 2, Alice spots the Red Queen whom she wants to meet.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A nearby talking rose offers her paradoxical advice,
advising her to walk the other way to achieve her goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming the rose is speaking nonsense, Alice ignores the advice,
marching straight toward the Queen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instantly, she loses sight of her target
and finds herself right back at the front door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realizing that the straight path is a trap,
Alice then turns her back on the Red Queen,
deliberately walks in the completely opposite direction,
and quickly ends up standing face-to-face with the Queen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a geometry that Simon Peter was yet to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our world usually runs on a simple, straight-line trajectory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n