Readings: Is. 50:4-9, James 2:14-18, and Mk. 8:27-35

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself/herself, take up his/her cross and follow me.”

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

1.     Jesus Christ is presented to us today as the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed one of God. Today’s gospel text is at the center of the entire Gospel message not in length but in the understanding of the developments and the unfolding of the events. Before this scene, Jesus had taught with authority, cured the sick of all sorts, fulfilling all it takes to qualify as the expected Messiah, but He refused to accept any of the Messianic titles. He had not accepted to be called the Messiah, the Son of David, the Holy One of God, the Prophet etc. all through and so far, it is confusing who Jesus is. He is aware of the confusion and that is why he asked, “who do people say that I am?”

2.     It is not too difficult to relate or report what others say – they said in reply: “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” Now, “who do you say that I am?” This is the challenging part; we are told Peter spoke up: “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. The answer of Peter that Jesus was the Christ is so important. It had many implications for the Apostles, for Peter himself, and for Jesus Christ. For the Apostles, they were gradually coming to terms with the understanding that Jesus is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah; for Peter, Jesus made him the leader of the Apostles; and for Jesus, it gave him the opportunity to start educating the Apostles on what it meant that he was the Christ.

3.     Peter like the Jews had understood that the Christ, the Messiah was to be another David, the Conqueror. They expected a warrior, the one who was to further extend the boundaries of Israel; subject the enemies of Israel to control and make Israel superior in strength to other nations. He was to establish a new reign in Israel inaugurated by David, the greatest King they ever had. These were some of the thoughts that the Jews had. This explains why the revelation of what awaited him as the Christ did not go down well with Peter. He called Jesus aside and rebuked him. In other words what Jesus was saying was not in line with their understanding of the Christ, the Messiah, they have been waiting for. Yes, Peter gave a beautiful answer to the question he knew little or nothing of its content. Peter was thinking of the glorious reign and superiority of Christ in terms of worldly understanding of power and leadership.

4.     Like Peter as well as the Jews, we miss the point when we do not take seriously the demand of Christ in today’s gospel text: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself/herself, take up his/her cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his/her life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.”

Dear brothers and sisters, beloved friends in Christ,

- Jesus never promised us a cross-free Christianity instead, he ordered us to carry our crosses and follow him. Taking up your cross and following him is a difficult instruction. It is hard to take up our crosses to die to certain things in our lives. Maybe we carry a cross of selfishness, pride, lust, envy, or greed. Even in the hope of a better life, many Christians struggle to change the sinful parts of their lives.

-    The cross of Jesus spares nobody; we are all endowed with one or many crosses. It is our response to it/them that makes the difference. It is not pretty to carry our crosses, but it is Christian responsibility to do so. Odd as it may seem, it is hopeful. The cross is the path to a personal resurrection; it is what Christ will use to redeem each of us. In our greatest struggles, God’s mercy is poured out with even greater generosity. However, just as it was with the case of Christ, we hold the nails; we have the power to choose whether to lay down our lives or not; to offer it to God’s mercy or continue with an empty faith that will ultimately end in hopelessness.

-     Our faith in Christ, and our fidelity to the Cross reflects in the work of charity we do as demand by Saint James in the 2^nd reading of today’s Liturgy. James is addressing members of his community struggling to change. They were wealthy but still had not learned to share their wealth with those in need. They had not allowed their greed to die on the cross of selfishness. We cannot simply be Christians in name only; faith without good works is dead. Both faith without works and works without faith are lifeless and cannot save us. It is only faith working through love – belief that is lived out through love and obedience to the One in whom we believe – that saves us. It is both faith and work that lead to salvation.

5.     Yes, none of us should run away from his/her cross whatever it may be. What is/are your cross(es)? They could be your personal weaknesses as indicated above, or/and they can be others, your husband, wife, children, friends, neighbors, colleagues, the work you do etc. May God give us the grace to follow the example of Jesus and keep to his instruction, to carry our crosses and follow him to the end. 

To God be the glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.

 Fr. Anthony D. Lawir,

Pastor, St. Agnes and Our Lady of Snows Parishes, Pittsfield and Dover-Foxcroft.