Gospel: Matthew 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
As a young boy at home my parents who were both teachers often told us that genius is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration. They were of course reminding us that whatever success in life there is comes because of hard work. There are many examples of this in the world. We are told that the great footballing star Ronaldo, after the normal practice sessions are over then spends another hour on his own practicing spot kicks. This capacity for sustained hard work is what separates the mediocre from the great.
Jesus came to earth to fulfill the mission given him by the Father; that is the proclamation and inauguration of the Kingdom. The Kingdom as we know is that state of affairs in which God reigns and because God reigns, there is established a state of Justice, peace, love and harmony.
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Given humanity’s inclination to selfishness and the inordinate desire for wealth, pleasure comfort and prestige it is not easy to live the requirements for the establishment of the Kingdom.
In fact those who seriously try to promote and live the values of the Kingdom are opposed and at times violently even by those who are supposed to be engaged in the same enterprise. Jesus is aware of this and so in the Gospel reading given for our meditation this weekend, Jesus alerts the twelve, he will have to suffer persecution and death in order to bring about what he had been sent by the Father to do. “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.” Peter, who in the Gospel passage we had last weekend, proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the messiah is blinded by his love for Jesus to the truth that the good which we achieve in life only comes through hard work and suffering. He wants to spare Jesus that pain and so he blurts out; “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Jesus will not be distracted from his task however. He must have seen in Peter’s response a repetition of the devil’s temptation which he had undergone in the desert and so he rebukes Peter calling him Satan. “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He then tells the twelve in no uncertain terms that they too must suffer what he will suffer if they are to be associated with him in the work of proclaiming and inaugurating the Kingdom.”Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
This is what disciples of Jesus have done down through the ages. They have all taken up the cross daily, some literally, as did the martyrs and persons like Gandhi and Martin Luther King and Mons. Romero, others metaphorically like Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Like all the above you and I, if we are serious about being disciples and about associating ourselves to Jesus’ work of the Kingdom must remember that nothing good comes easily and that the Kingdom, God’s highest good for us will only come through the hard but rewarding work of the cross. We thank God for the faithful disciples who show us that taking up the daily cross is possible. We ask for the gift of acceptance of the cross and of fidelity in carrying it so that God may reign in all hearts and God’s kingdom may be established.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, you call us your disciples to continue the work of Jesus and build the Kingdom. The culture in which we live however is a culture which promotes comfort and wealth and prestige and pleasure, things which attract us but which do not help us to be faithful to the work of building the Kingdom. Help us Lord to resist these temptations and give us the grace to carry the cross which resisting these temptations bring. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and your Son Jesus who carried the cross and was faithful to the end. Amen
