OT XXII [A] Jer 20:7-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27

Prophet Jeremiah, who lived 600 years before Christ, began his ministry among a people who had become so hardened by the numbing effects of their sinful ways that they no longer believed God, nor did they fear Him. Jeremiah preached for 40 years, and not once did he see any real success in changing or softening the hearts and minds of his stubborn, idolatrous people. The other prophets of Israel had witnessed some success, at least for a little while, but not Jeremiah. He was speaking to a brick wall, to people who simply didn’t care about God or their religion. Judged by this world’s standards, Jeremiah’s life was a failure. History shows that he gave them fair warning, but the people of Israel ignored him and went on to suffer disaster. They lost everything. Their nation was torn asunder, their temple destroyed, and their leaders were carried off into captivity by their enemies.

In the Gospel of today, Jesus teaches the disciples about the suffering Messiah who will suffer, die and rise again.  Peter could not understand why Jesus must suffer and die and tried to admonish him. He receives the reprimand from Jesus and also receives the correct teaching about the cross. Jesus tells his disciples that they have to deny themselves, carry the cross and follow him to be his followers. The fate of the Master must now be the fate of the disciple, for this is what it means to “follow” Christ.

For us Christians, all our suffering should be seen in the light of Christ’s suffering. Others may deal with suffering differently. Jesus did not passively submit to suffering. That would be useless. He accepted suffering purposefully. If St. Paul taught us anything, he taught us that. Not only did he preach that, but he lived it out, suffering as he did great suffering in multiple ways. In the second letter to the Corinthians ch. 11, he enumerates them in detail. He said, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church… (Col 1:24)

What’s lacking is our personal presentation of Christ’s sufferings to the people for whom He died, all of us. Christ’s afflictions are lacking in the sense that they are not seen and known among the nations of people worldwide. Those sufferings must be carried by us, by you and I, who are ministers of the gospel. Thus, in living out Christ’s life, we fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ by extending them to others in our own sufferings that share in Christ’s.

In another passage, St. Paul writes: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For, as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort, too.  (2 Cor 1:2-5)

What does that mean for us? It means that taking up one’s cross and following Christ does not indicate that we are passively submitting to oppression, discrimination, and abuses in their varied forms. That was the constant message of John Paul II, a message that he personally lived out. We can be comforted in the knowledge that our own personal sufferings can be given meaning, infinite meaning and purpose because we can make them a part of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice.

In this gospel, Jesus is stating that sacrifice is the key to anything good. The work of Satan is to distract us from sacrifice. Jesus does not ask us to deny “what we are,” but “what we have become.” We are images of God. Thus, we are something “very good,” as God himself said, immediately after creating man and woman. What we must deny is not that which God has made, but that which we ourselves have made by misusing our freedom -- the evil tendencies, sin, all those things that have covered over the original nature.

In the midst of the many voices clamouring for our time, our money, our allegiance and our attention, we are called to choose the cross; we are called to choose Christ, to the complete dispossession of all else. In His call to authentic discipleship, Christ challenges our most precious loyalties. As there can be no other gods before the God of Israel, there can be no other loves before Christ. The life we long for, the changes we want, comes only through the cross — no other way!

St John Vianney leaves us with this wonderful wisdom: “On the Way of the Cross, you see, my children, only the first step is painful. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. . . We have not the courage to carry our cross, and we are very much mistaken, for whatever we do, the cross holds us tight - we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses and make use of them to take us to heaven?”

In closing, let’s reflect: Does my faith give me anything more than a feel-good spirituality? Do I have enough Faith to offer up a genuine sacrifice for Christ’s sake, his gospel and his kingdom? From which angle do I approach the crosses of my own life, like Peter or Jesus?