OT
22nd Sunday August
31, 2014
Jer
20:7-9 Ps 63 Rom 12:1-2 Mt 16:21-27
In today’s gospel, Jesus revealed to his disciples the way
of the cross. Specifically for Jesus it
meant increasing persecutions, false accusation, betrayal, great suffering, and
a cruel death. This seeming defeat of
Jesus and the dream of the messianic age would be, in fact, the essential key
to His victory over sin and death. The
cross would reveal the glory of the resurrection. Each Holy Week and Easter we celebrate the
way of the cross and the triumph of the resurrection. This paschal mystery is foretold in today’s
gospel when Jesus announced his passion.
Jesus announced the
passion of his disciples. Most of us
probably relate to St. Peter’s first response to the prophecy of the cross. When Jesus predicted his own passion and
death, Peter said, “God forbid Lord. Now such thing shall ever happen to you!” Perhaps Peter said this out of love and loyalty
for our Lord. He didn’t want Jesus to
suffer. Certainly, Peter did not
understand God’s deeper plans.
The next words of Jesus gave probably sent cold chills down
their spines. Jesus spoke of the
cross. The cross was a brutal instrument
of extreme torture and slow death. And
he told his disciples to take up the cross.
Who of us would willingly suffer that?
Or witness someone we love suffer in such a way? When we are very honest with ourselves, our
first response to this announcement likely is the response of St. Peter. “God
forbid!”
And yet the cross was foretold for Jesus and for his
disciples. As Jesus suffered
persecutions, so his disciples suffered persecutions in the dawning age of the
church. As Jesus suffered martyrdom, so
many of his disciples also suffered martyrdom.
Even so, the kingdom of God was proclaimed. Miraculous signs accompanied this
proclamation. And many came to know
salvation through God’s gracious love and mercy. All of this was, however, linked to Jesus’
announcement of the way of the cross.
The passion is now
being announced to us. This is never
an easy message. For Jesus says to us
these words, “whoever wishes to come
after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
Particularly in this day and time we see evidence of the
passion that is coming upon the world and that is already here. Think of the events of this past year. Russia invaded Crimea. Ukraine is in civil war with Russia’s troops
on the border. Syria is wracked by civil war.
Israel and Gaza are firing missiles.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons and has invited terrorist
organizations to participate. Ebola is
looming as an epidemic. Iraq has fallen
into the hands of ISIS, which is systematically beheading Christians or burying
them alive and terrorizing the region. The prophet Jeremiah comes to mind when
he wrote: “Whenever I speak, I must cry
out, violence and outrage is my message.”
In light of all this, what looms ahead?
Consider this. Pope
Leo XIII had a vision on October 13, 1884 concerning the future. Satan would be loosed on the world for 100
years to ravage the church, and then would be defeated by our Lady and chained
in hell. That vision in 1884 prompted
him to compose the prayer to St. Michael that we often pray at the end of the
rosary. Exactly 33 years later, on
October 13, 1917 the last vision of Fatima and the miracle of the sun occurred. It was the anniversary of Pope Leo’s
vision. 1917 also marked the unleashing
of the communist revolution in Russia and World War I. What followed has been unprecedented brutality
and persecution in various places throughout the world. Fatima has been a true prophecy. Now we are on the threshold of the completion
of those 100 years.
What is it that God will soon unveil to the world that he
loves so much? Nothing less than the
defeat of satan and the dawning of the era of peace! This is a great hope. But first the world will pass through
judgment. Evil and corrupt systems will
fall and be swept away. These same evil
and corrupt systems of the world, inspired by satan, will rage for a little
while more. A storm is coming – the most
violent and comprehensive we have ever seen. The Church is entering her
passion.
Let us not be tempted to say “God forbid.” When St. Peter
said this to the Lord, he received a stern rebuke in return. Let us not be tempted to run from the
cross. For Jesus says this to us, “whoever wishes to come after me must deny
himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
Let us not be tempted to give in to fear or despair when these things
come to pass. Good Friday always
precedes Easter Sunday. The cross serves
to reveal the resurrection and God’s ultimate triumph. Likewise the Passion of the Church precedes
The Triumph and the Era of Peace.
How is it, then, that we can prepare? Most of all let us prepare by choosing to
follow Jesus completely. Choose to
follow Jesus by keeping our eyes firmly fixed upon Him. Choose to live his gospel. Choose obedience to His holy will, which
always leads us to life. The Blessed
Mother, the Ark of the New Covenant, the heart of the Church, shows us this way
of following Jesus with great trust.
Finally, let us receive the words of wisdom and hope from
today’s 2nd reading. May
these words help us take the next right step as we wait in joyful hope for the
coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God,
your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal
of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing
and perfect.”
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