Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
Called by God, Jeremiah preached the prophetic message with zeal and conviction. Jeremiah took it for granted that since he was doing God’s work that his life would be relatively safe. But he finds himself severely persecuted and even at risk of death. This is similar to Jesus’ prediction of his own impending suffering and death in today’s gospel reading. But then, Jesus goes a step further. He prepares his followers for the same fate. At the time that Matthew wrote the gospel the Christians were already being persecuted and perhaps many of them were killed just as Jesus had told them. We know Saul as one of the earliest persecutors. The point I am trying to make is that when Jesus talks about “taking up one’s cross,” it had a very different meaning than what it meant after persecution stopped in 314 AD. The cross from Jesus’ mouth literally meant crucifixion. He was asking his disciples to be prepared to be crucified like he himself would be for the sake of the gospel.
We know from history that hundreds of thousands of early Christians took up the cross and followed Jesus. Some were crucified, some fed to the beasts, some burnt at the stakes and others beheaded. When persecution ended in the Roman Empire Christians gave new meaning to “taking up the cross.” They continued to find ways of uniting themselves with the cross of Christ. By renouncing earthly pursuits, by taking hard penances, by selfless missionary work they sought unity with the suffering Christ. The likes of Maxmillian Kolbe even exchanged their lives for death so that someone else might be set free. As In India people still “take up the cross” and follow Jesus. Over the centuries people have found much meaning in the words, “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 us that do not face death for the sake of the gospel there is a sense in which the cross can be as challenging. That comes from the consequence of doing what is right. I think of Sr. Dorothy Stang and the consequence she faced for standing by the poor. There are consequences for living our lives from the perspective of the poor, the immigrants, the homeless, and the hungry. There are consequences when we forgive someone unconditionally, or when we decide to part company with those who lead us into wrong, or when we decide to tell the truth, and when we decide to be honest or humble.
The Eucharist, our participation in the life of Christ, and our salvation has become possible because Jesus decided to carry his cross. What would have happened if Jesus did not carry his cross? What are the implications of us not carrying the cross? What are the implications if we, like Jesus, dot take up our crosses.
- Fr. Satish Joseph