Aug 25, 2014
Readings:
Jeremiah 20:7-9
Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27
Today's First Reading catches the prophet Jeremiah in a moment of
weakness. His intimate lamentation contains some of the strongest
language of doubt found in the Bible. Following God's call, he
feels abandoned. Preaching His Word has brought him only derision
and reproach.
But God does not deceive - and Jeremiah knows this. He tests the
just (see
Jeremiah 20:11-12), and disciplines His
children through their sufferings and trials (see
Hebrews 12:5-7).
What Jeremiah learns, Jesus states explicitly in today's Gospel. To
follow Him is to take up a cross, to deny yourself - your
priorities, preferences, and comforts. It is to be willing to give
it all up, even life itself, for the sake of His gospel. As Paul
says in today's Epistle, we have to join ourselves to the passion
of Christ, to offer our bodies - our whole beings - as living
sacrifices to God.
By His cross, Jesus has shown us what Israel's sacrifices of
animals were meant to teach - that we owe to God all that we
have.
God's kindness is a greater good than life itself, as we sing in
today's Psalm. The only thanks we can offer is our spiritual
worship - to give our lives to the service of His will (see
Hebrews 10:3-11;
Psalm 50:14,23).
Peter doesn't yet get this in today's Gospel. As it was for
Jeremiah, the cross is a stumbling block for Peter (see
1 Corinthians 1:23). This too is our
natural temptation - to refuse to believe that our sufferings play
a necessary part in God's plan.
That's how people think, Jesus tells us today. But we are called to
the renewal of our minds - to think as God thinks, to will what He
wills.
In the Mass, we once again offer ourselves as perfect and pleasing
sacrifices of praise (see
Hebrews 13:15). We bless Him as we
live, confident that we will find our lives in losing them, that
with the riches of His banquet, our souls will be
satisfied.