SUNDAY, TWENTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Jer 20: 7-9 Ps 63: 2-6, 8-9 Rom 12: 1-2 Mt 16: 21-27
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
When Jeremiah began his ministry the people of Israel had become so hardened by the bluntness of their emotional response to their sinful ways that they no longer believed God nor did they fear Him. Jeremiah preached for many years and not once did he see any real success in changing or softening the hearts and minds of his stubborn, idolatrous people. He gave them fair warnings, but the people of Israel ignored him and went on to suffer disaster. They lost everything. Their nation was torn apart, their temple destroyed and their leaders were carried off into captivity by their enemies. In spite of this, Jeremiah responded to the invitation of presenting himself to God as a willing sacrifice and God took hold of him and filled his heart with his Word so much so that Jeremiah could no longer resist speaking and even shouting in the name of God Most High.
God assured Jeremiah of His assistance if he would obey God’s Word. Jeremiah had doubts about obeying God’s Word but he felt it burning in his heart and caught up in his bones. He could not endure holding it in. He had to proclaim it. He did but suffer so much including death threats. He wondered where God was and if he was duped. He felt alone as many people were chasing him. He was afraid of experiencing the consequence of His obedience to God. Through this reading, we learn that it is not easy to respond to God’s call and the Lord will always find a way to bring us to Him through the Holy Spirit.
In the second reading St. Paul appeals that we all must present ourselves as a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable to God and tells us that this is acceptable and pleasing to God. Our lives must be solely meant to please the Lord. We must submit to God without resistance and reservation. To present our bodies is to submit our faculties and the totality of our being. It is total surrender to God. This total surrender is essential to a life of righteousness, joy, peace, and victory in Christ. We must conform to Christ rather than to this world. If not, we are not living for God but for our own self and this can be very dangerous.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus rebukes Peter for asserting his will against God’s will. It was clear that Peter did not fully understand the Jesus’ affirmation of himself as the Son of God. Then Jesus proceeded to teach them about the value of earthly life against eternal life. Peter could not understand why Christ should be talking this way. However, God’s call is not only about participating in his glory but also participating first in his suffering. This is what Christ did. That He offered himself as a living sacrifice means that he submitted everything without reluctance for our salvation. Peter tries to make Jesus change his mind. Jesus’ reaction is extremely strong: You are an obstacle in my path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as human beings do. When he said he must go to Jerusalem, he was saying that was the only way to be true to his vocation. Jesus did not live for himself. He lived for God the Father who sent him and died doing his will. When we deny self, we make the choice to replace our desires, thoughts, and plans with God’s thoughts and purposes. We are called to live our lives centered on considering others before ourselves. This is not an easy commitment to make. Taking up one’s cross daily is an expressed willingness to be His followers and to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
That we deny ourselves and take up our cross in order to follow him means that when we do this, Jesus himself will be with us. He will be leading us. And he will help us do what he asks. With Jesus leading us, we can deny ourselves and take up our cross. Without Jesus, it would be far too difficult. But he does not ask us to do this alone. He invites us to follow him which means to be with him. While we live in this world, we are not of this world. We are pilgrims on our way to eternal life. We ought to be in this world proclaiming the Good News.
Response: For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
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