"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.'" (Mt 16:24)
Who of us would ever have the courage to admonish Jesus to His face? It seems quite strange to think about, and yet in this week's Gospel we find Peter doing precisely that. Peter takes Jesus aside and actually reprimands the Lord for speaking about the rejection, suffering, and death He will have to endure at the hands of the chief priests and scribes: "God forbid, Lord!" Jesus' response to Peter couldn't have been more severe: "Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." This response seems quite harsh at first, but it makes sense if you remember an earlier event in the Gospel. Jesus responds to Peter here just as He responded to Satan when he tempted the Lord to forgo the cross and simply take possession of the world (Mt 4:10). In the mind of Christ, the cross must be embraced - it cannot be avoided. In fact, due to Peter's all-too-human aversion to the cross, Jesus calls Peter an "obstacle" (or "scandalon" in Greek) to Him! Jesus sees life without the cross as a scandal, or obstacle, to following the will of the Father, and not only for Himself, but for anyone who wishes to be His disciple: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."
In this we see how God's thinking and ours simply do not match up. Often times intense personal suffering can create a scandal (or stumbling block) to our faith. We feel the temptation to withdraw from God because He has not lived up to our expectations, or because He asks us to carry a cross and follow Him. How quickly we forget His words and example, and then falter in faith! On top of that, our society exasperates the natural aversion we have to suffering and exalts the ultimate goal of a pleasurable, luxurious, and comfortable life devoid of all anxiety and pain. Ironically, the only thing this goal is devoid of is reality. Nonetheless, an unrealistically high level of expectations in life is ingrained within us and we somehow feel cheated when we have to suffer, or life doesn't hand us something we (somehow) think should rightfully be ours. If we don't see these moments as opportunities to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow the Lord, then we can end up blaming or hating God for being unfair.
It's not easy to accept suffering and the real life crosses we have to bear in the way Jesus did. This is especially true when the world around us often makes an idol out of comfort and ease. St. Paul's words in the second reading for this Sunday can serve as a good reminder to us all: "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...." Like the Apostles and saints, we too can learn to "put on the mind of Christ" slowly. Listening, reading, and meditating on passages of the New Testament is a great way to do just that and strength our faith, especially in times of suffering.
This week (and afterwards too) we can ask the Lord in prayer to transform our minds and help us live according to the logic of His wisdom and not the logic of man. We can also take practical steps by reading the Bible a little bit each day during the week, paying close attention to how Jesus approached the various sufferings and trials in His life - what He valued, what He said, how He acted, or reacted, or didn't react! May the Lord pour out His grace upon us and help us follow Him with generous and grateful hearts. Have a blessed week!
(Photo of the "Christ Carrying the Cross" courtesy of Dcn. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)
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