Gospel Mt 16:21-27
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”
Homily
In any profession there are some members who love the title and some who love the practice. In medicine for example there are some who like the title doctor, others love the practice of medicine in spite of long hours, calls at moments when one would rather be with the family and unpleasant situations. One can truly say of such medical practitioners that they have been seduced by the practice of medicine. We can speak in a similar manner of law or teaching or the priesthood. Some love the title others love the practice. Loving the practice of any profession brings with it pain and suffering but a pain and suffering that is faced and accepted because one realizes that one can only really find oneself through the faithful practice of the profession in spite of the self-sacrifice that it entails.
The gospel given to us this week for our meditation applies the above principles to our Christian living. Some like to be known as Christian others love the practice of Christianity.
Jesus, teacher that he is, is trying to give a lesson to those who very soon will be in charge of leading his church. He tells them that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” As usual Peter speaks for the disciples, and exposes the prevailing mentality among them. They were interested in earthly power, in ruling over people. James and John wanted to sit at his right hand in the kingdom. Suffering and death was not what they were looking forward to, even if resurrection came afterwards. They wanted power and fame in the here and now. Jesus rebukes Peter for his stance; “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” And isn’t that the way that we and with us often very well-meaning people behave. We tell professionals so often, that they must look after themselves, that they mustn’t spoil people etc. We in fact try to turn people away from their chosen path. Luckily for the world they have often been seduced by the profession; and “there is a fire burning in the heart, imprisoned in their bones”,which does not allow them to listen to us.
Ankylosing spondylitis can involve multiple prescription viagra without Dosage and Prices systems, including heredity factors, immune dysfunction, organs tendon tissue inflammation, bone tissue damage and so on. This makes erectile dysfunction the most common sexual problem faced by men all around the globe where one fails to achieve an erection during sexual activity, and it can also be an early warning sign of future heart related problems. important site order cheap cialis Men lose confidence and feel they are lesser than others with purchase viagra online look these up a greater size of sexual organs. Poor communication with the partner levitra 20mg generika The unrealistic sexual experience. Going back to the passage, Jesus then begins to teach his disciples very plainly that true success only come through total commitment to a cause and the acceptance of the sacrifice which comes with that commitment. So he tells them; “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny him/herself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his/her life for my sake will find it.” In effect Jesus is teaching his disciples that true success in any walk of life only comes through total commitment to the cause, be that cause education, medicine, sports administration, law, last but not least Christian living, and as our celebrations of independence remind us, nation building. In fact as we celebrate the fifty second anniversary of Independence, this principle is very important because unless we all commit to the cause of building a nation of Justice and peace where harmony reigns, this will not happen. Unless as the first reading for the Eucharistic celebration says “there seems to be a fire burning in the heart, imprisoned in my bones and the effort to restrain it wearies me” and this, for the building of this nation of ours, we will never fulfil the dream of our forefathers of a nation where every creed and race find an equal place and in which all enjoy truly human rights.
We must also remember that in a very true way it is the “Word of God which enlightens every person coming into this world” who allows us to be totally committed, not only to the worthy causes found in explicit Christian living, but also to those embedded and clothed in the practice of every profession and every labour of love, including that of building our nation.
Today then we thank God for those who have been seduced by any worthy cause. Any good that we experience in the world is because of them. We remember Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Cesar Chavez, and the countless others like them. We remember teachers that we knew, priests who inspired us, and parents who were totally dedicated to their task, in spite of advice to the contrary. How many of us owe our very selves to that selfless dedication of people like them. We thank God also for the forefathers who dreamt dreams which they never saw and who worked nonetheless to make these dreams of independence and self-determination real.
But the Gospel is also the mirror in which we look at ourselves. Have we let ourselves be seduced, so that there is something to which we are totally committed? Unless there is, we will never find true life. Have we let ourselves be seduced by the dream of a truly independent Trinidad and Tobago, living the “One Love” so that we live the harmony for which Christ gave his life and which will make us true to the name we bear, Trinidad and Tobago, a nation of tremendous diversity but great unity.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, as we celebrate our development as a nation, we thank you for our forefathers who dreamt and worked to make their dream of an independent Trinidad and Tobago real. Give us, those who live now, “a fire burning in the heart, imprisoned in our bones”, forcing us to dedicate ourselves to the building of a nation characterized by love in which every creed and race will truly have an equal place. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our mother and Jesus your Son. Amen
