Pastor's Column

Sep 17

Written by:
Sunday, September 17, 2006 

24^th Sunday Ordinary Time

September 17, 2006

 

          This Sunday's gospel (Mark 8:27-35) has a haunting quality about it:  the disciples are walking with Jesus, and in the course of their conversation, Jesus asks a simple question:  "What have other people been saying about me?"  It must have been comical to hear some of the answers.  Jesus then puts all of them on the spot, publicly, in front of each other:  "Who do YOU say that I am?"

 

          Peter, of course, gets the answer right:  "You are the Christ, the Son of God."  But he doesn't understand what kind of Messiah Jesus is.  Peter wants Jesus to be a Messiah who enters into glory without suffering.   Instead, Jesus is our Savior who went to the cross to prove his love for us.  From now on, if we ever doubt the love of God, Jesus can show us his wounds as a proof of his love.

 

          If we acknowledge Jesus as Lord, if we "get the right answer," as Peter did, Jesus has a gift for you that will mark you as a true follower of Christ: he gives you your own special little cross, unique to you; maybe it is heavy, maybe light, but it is yours alone.  What do we do with it?  It is with this particular cross, the one Christ has permitted in my life now, that I show my love for Christ.  Suffering proves our love.  It demonstrates as nothing else can that I love someone no matter what, even when it doesn't feel good, even when I am hurting.  So Christ tells us that an authentic relationship with him will involve this exchange of crosses.  Jesus will come to meet us holding his heavy cross, with which He proved his love for me, and I will hopefully meet him carrying my small one out of love for him.

 

          Of course we are expected to relieve suffering whenever possible, but the truth is that the cross finds all of us, like it or not, accept it or not!  St Faustina once had a vision of three people who had a cross in their lives.  One person cursed their cross, complained bitterly, dragging it unwillingly, but bearing it all the same.  Of course there is little merit in this performance. This is suffering without any value.   The second person was dragging their cross without complaint, and willingly, but did not bear it out of pure love.  This is where most of us fall in line.    The third person also bore a cross and suffered greatly, but that person actually kissed the cross as they carried it, because they recognized in it an opportunity to love God and to draw closer to him by offering their cross to Him in love.  Lord, I value your cross; help me to see the value in mine!  Amen. 

                                                                   Father Gary