22nd Sunday Year A, Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD

Well, we need to go back to Mt 4:1-11, to understand why Jesus calls Peter Satan. There Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights (symbolism of a very long time), and the devil came to distract him from the path that he had chosen. The devil wants to convince Jesus to take the easier way from the very beginning. Jesus, unlike Adam, did not choose the easier path to be like God. He defeated the devil and continued with his challenging mission. The devil promised to come back.

Today the devil has come back through Peter (his forefront disciple) to discourage Jesus from going up to Jerusalem, knowing what was awaiting him there. Jesus is rebuking Peter not for what he said but rather he was rebuking the devil that had entered him. Peter may have been very confused and sad. Why did trying to assure his loyalty to his master brand him Satan? Peter was simply telling Jesus that he could count on him.

Nevertheless, Jesus is quick to explain to him why he called him Satan. “…for you think not like God but like men”. Later he tells them that the cross is the only way to be a follower of Him. Peter, like most of us, wanted to avoid the way of the cross.  We always want the easier way, free things, and offers, quick catch, and fast wealth, but we do not want to be tired. We have all the evidence we need to prove that “easy come easy go”. As Fr. Dennis Lemos, MSFS, says in one of his homilies on YouTube, “Christianity without the cross remains a sect without a savior”.

In our society today we have seen how devastated many individuals and families are. People commit themselves to things such as marriage thinking that it will all be a bed of roses. Others become priests and religious without counting the cost first. When difficulties come, they are weighed down and sometimes break. Life is beautiful but as the Swahili proverb goes, “ukiona vya elea ujue vimeudwa”, (if you see them glittering know they have been made so). Difficulties weigh us down when we forget the motives for which we chose the path we chose or when we forget the rules of the game. There are things that we valued before that kept us moving in the right path, that we no longer value or follow. This is what has made us overwhelmed by the challenges of life.

If we want to live a fulfilling life with all the challenges that we face, we have to accept that on earth there is no other way to salvation but the cross. The reflection of the Second Station of the Cross-“Jesus receives the cross” says that I too Jesus, I have my cross my spouse, my children, my colleagues, my job, weather, hunger, thirst, etc. Prophet Jeremiah is lamenting that his ministry as a Prophet has made his life a scorn of the people. However, he was unable to stop preaching the word of God because it was like a burning fire in his heart.  

When we commit ourselves to something good like marriage, religious life, or a public office that calls for high levels of integrity and commitment, we must be ready to DRINK THE CUP (Mk 10:35-40). However, we first need to know the contents of the cup before we hold it and empty its contents down our throats. James and John the sons of Zebedee did not think about what cup Jesus was referring to. All they wanted was to be prime ministers in the government of Jesus.

“Whoever is willing to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 16:25). If we try to avoid challenges, we will lose the good things in our lives. “Mchumia juani hulia kivulini” says another Swahili proverb, that translates literary to the one who earns under the sun and eats under the shadow. There are things that we must avoid so that we can attain fulfillment in life. These include bad company, negative critics, laziness, jealousy, idle talk (gossip), living beyond means, etc. We must cast them behind us. There are crosses we must bear to be counted as worthy of the kingdom of God which includes, hard work, rejection, loneliness, criticism, and others like these. St. Paul urges us to offer our bodies as holy sacrifices, not to conform ourselves to the world but to the new life in Christ. This is the only way to discover the will of God.

Dear brothers, I invite us today to reflect upon the crosses we must carry in our lives. Do we carry them with love, sacrifice, and patience or do we complain from morning to evening, 365 days of the year? The cross distinguishes true living from fashion (covered under makeup and hypocrisy). Let us ask Jesus to help us to think like him and endow us with the courage to bear our crosses however heavy they may be.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD