The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the challenges involved in our transformation as followers of Christ.
Our transformation
In the reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, he denounces his persecutors.
* [20:7] You seduced me: Jeremiah accuses the Lord of having deceived him; cf. 15:18.1
Psalm 63 declares comfort and assurance in God’s Presence.
* [Psalm 63] A Psalm expressing the intimate relationship between God and the worshiper. Separated from God (Ps 63:2), the psalmist longs for the divine life given in the Temple (Ps 63:3–6), which is based on a close relationship with God (Ps 63:7–9). May all my enemies be destroyed and God’s true worshipers continue in giving praise (Ps 63:10–11)!2
In the reading from the Letter to the Romans, Paul introduces the New Life in Christ.
* [12:1–8] The Mosaic code included elaborate directions on sacrifices and other cultic observances. The gospel, however, invites believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Instead of being limited by specific legal maxims, Christians are liberated for the exercise of good judgment as they are confronted with the many and varied decisions required in the course of daily life.3
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus foretells His Death and Resurrection and presents the Cross and Self-Denial to the apostles.
* [16:24–28] A readiness to follow Jesus even to giving up one’s life for him is the condition for true discipleship; this will be repaid by him at the final judgment.4
Nancy Shirley tried to imagine what it would be like walking beside Jesus and hearing these predictions of the future without the framework that we now have.
I guess I need to understand that it wasn’t any easier being a disciple and understanding all of this (until the Resurrection and the descending of the Holy Spirit) than it is for us at times. While our lives are, indeed, very different from the disciples and the world around us offers different challenges, the bottom line remains the same. We still need to resist conforming to what is around us, what the secular world calls success and rather, seek the will of God. We often debate what are the great questions in life, perhaps this gospel offers the definitive question: What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?5
Don Schwager quotes “This shall never happen to you,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
"Peter was examining the issue by human and earthly reasoning. He thought it disgraceful to Jesus as something unworthy of him. Jesus responded sharply, in effect saying, 'My suffering is not an unseemly matter. You are making this judgment with a carnal mind. If you had listened to my teachings in a godly way, tearing yourself away from carnal understanding, you would know that this of all things most becomes me. You seem to suppose that to suffer is unworthy of me. But I say to you that for me not to suffer is of the devil's mind.' So he repressed Peter's alarm by contrary arguments. Remember that John, accounting it unworthy of Christ to be baptized by him, was persuaded by Christ to baptize him, saying, 'Let it be so now' (Matthew 3:15). So we find Peter as well, forbidding Christ to wash his feet. He is met by the words, 'If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.' Here too Jesus restrained him by the mention of the opposite, and by the severity of the reproof he repressed his fear of suffering." (excerpt from the THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 54.6)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew suggests there may also have been a deeper motive in Peter’s actions. Perhaps he was eager to preserve Jesus’ image as an untouchable miracle worker so that he could be safe too. If he could keep Jesus from the cross, he wouldn’t have to face his own cross.
It’s tempting to keep Jesus at arm’s length so that he can’t get too close and ask too much of us. Jesus made it very clear: there is a cost to discipleship. It’s not always easy to follow the Lord and obey his commandments. But the glory of knowing Jesus’ love and the joy of sharing his mercy with people far outweigh any sacrifice we might have to make. Peter ultimately learned this, and so can we. So take up your cross today. Try your best to follow in Jesus’ path of self-giving love.7
Friar Jude Winkler shares a reflection on the texts today.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, learned the terms “True Self” and “false self” from Thomas Merton (1915‒1968). These are words he used to clarify Jesus’ teaching of dying to self or “losing ourselves to find ourselves” (see Mark 8:35).
Merton rightly recognized that it was not the body that had to “die” but the “false self” that we do not need anyway. The false self is simply a substitute for our deepest truth. It is a useful and even needed part of ourselves, but it is not all of us; the danger is when we think we are only our small or separate self. Our attachment to the false self must die to allow the True Self—our basic and unchangeable identity in God—to live fully and freely.8
The transformation of our lives to join Jesus with our cross is the path to fullness of life.
References
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