“take up his cross, and follow me”
In today’s readings we hear that God is willing to do whatever it takes to bring salvation to all and correct the wrongs.
Why does Jesus speak of His Passion? This is the first time we hear Jesus speaking of His Passion in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus will foretell His Passion two more times after this. He specifically mentions the cross. “…he (Jesus) was well aware that in fulfilling his mission he would be brought to death on a cross; this is why he speaks clearly about his Passion.” [1]
What was God willing to do? In Sunday’s first reading, we find out that God will give us everything. He says, “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets ad spitting.” [2] Jesus was willing to lay down His life and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes, Jews, Romans, Gentiles, and even his own followers. God loves us so much that he sent His Only-Begotten Son into the world to die on a Cross and rise again in three days so “that we may live through him”. [3] Reflecting on and praying the Sorrowful Mysteries or the Stations of Cross helps us to remember how much God is willing to do for us.
Search: Physical meditations on the Sorrowful Mysteries
Why does Peter protest Jesus’ statement about His Passion? Peter protests because to Peter, Jesus’ words are extreme and strange. This is the first time Peter (and the other disciples) heard that the Lord must suffer and die, and it makes him uncomfortable. “This is proof that in spite of his calling Jesus a Messiah, Peter still does not grasp that this function entails suffering and death of Jesus.” [4]
At the heart of Saint Peter’s protest and our own is the fear of suffering. When Jesus says that he must suffer greatly, it is implied that the followers of Jesus also must suffer. Although there is suffering and rejection, there is life. As Jesus tells us in the parable of the vine and the branches, we are “grafted on to the God-man.” [5] Because the God-man was grafted on to the Cross, we therefore living the Life of Christ cannot escape the suffering and rejection nor may we escape the life and fruit of the passion, death, and resurrection.
Why is there a “fear around, a fear of the Cross”? We fear the unpleasantness of the Cross and what embracing the Cross will mean to our life. In other words we say, “If I believe and embrace this truth, things in my life will have to change.”
When faced with the truth we either live the truth or we reject the truth out of fear for what it means to our lives—there is no other way. Unfortunately, in the culture today, there is a pervasive idea that we don’t have to choose or reject truth because this is no “absolute truth”, also known as relativism. Relativists claim that truth depends entirely on variable factors such as person, place, time, and circumstances. Moral relativism holds that there are no unchangeable principles of human behavior, either because all truth is relative or because there are not inherently evil actions since everything depends on other factors, such as customs, conventions, or social approval. [6]
Even if we believe in absolute truth, it is easy to fall into the error of relativism because we don’t always live out what these truths demand. When we reject truth, we are rejecting a person as well. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” To embrace truth is to conform to Christ, and to conform to Christ, is a dying to self. “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.” [7]
If we believe and embrace the truths of the Church, how do we arm ourselves against the influences of the world and “pick up our cross”? Saints Cyprian and Cornelius knew the struggle of the Christian life first hand and we see this in the letter of Saint Cyprian to Saint Cornelius. “Divine providence has now prepared us. God’s merciful design has warned us that the day of our own struggle, our own contest, is at hand. By that shared love which binds us close together, we are doing all we can to exhort our congregation, to give ourselves unceasingly to fastings, vigils and prayers in common. These are the heavenly weapons which give us the strength to stand firm and endure; they are the spiritual defenses, the God-given armaments that protect us.” [8]
In the vocation of marriage, for example, we can see how Jesus arms us to take on the world and “pick up our cross”. In the married life, God expects each spouse to lead the other spouse to Him. They will help each other carry their crosses and find their true love from the creator of love, God. “This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy – heavier than the Law of Moses. By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God. It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to ‘receive’ the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ. This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ’s cross, the source of all Christian life.” [9]
A very special example of the embodiment of this mutual service to each other is in the Croatian marriage tradition. When a young couple is preparing for marriage the priest says to them “You have found your cross. And it is a cross to be loved, to be carried, a cross not to be thrown away, but to be cherished." When the bride and groom set off for the church, they bring a crucifix with them. The priest blesses the crucifix, which takes on a central role during the exchange of vows. The bride places her right hand on the crucifix and the groom places his hand over hers. Thus the two hands are bound together on the cross. The priest covers their hands with his stole as they proclaim their vows to be faithful, according to the rites of the Church. The priest explains that the bride and groom do not then kiss each other, they rather kiss the cross. They know that they are kissing the source of love. Anyone close enough to see their two hands joined over the cross understands clearly that if the husband abandons his wife or if the wife abandons her husband, they let go of the cross. And if they abandon the cross, they have nothing left. They have lost everything for they have abandoned Jesus. They have lost Jesus.
What words (teachings) of Jesus do we protest? What of what Jesus teaches or says does not fit into our ideas? How can we, like Saint Peter, show a deeper faith and obedience?
Why does Jesus call Peter “Satan”? Jesus is not saying that Peter is Satan himself. What He is saying is that, Peter, like Satan, is only thinking of himself and of the world. Peter is not thinking of God. “It was with these same words that Jesus rejected the Devil’s temptations in the desert. Jesus will not be thwarted either by friend or foe in his determination to fulfill the will of the Father.” [10] “He wants to affirm once again that his mission is spiritual, not earthly, and that therefore it cannot be understood by using mere human criteria: it is governed by God’s designs, which were that Jesus should redeem us through his Passion and Death. So too, for a Christian, suffering, united with Christ, is also a means of salvation.” [11]
What is our call to action after learning of the sacrificial love of Jesus? We are called to be one with a God who has given everything to us. If we remove ourselves from God who has done everything for us then we will have nothing. Jesus says we must be one with Him as the vine is with its branches. The branch depends on the vine for its source of life. If the branch leaves the vine it withers and dies. It is then thrown into the fire. [13] In our personal lives we should take comfort in this. As it says in the first reading, “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; Therefore I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” [14] With great confidence, we must be like the apostles and with great joy proclaim the Good News in our homes, workplaces, and country. We must never be afraid to lose our life for the sake of Christ because as Jesus as told us, if we are willing to give up everything for Him we will gain everything in Him.
To choose truth and Jesus means to pick up our cross, to reject truth is to abandon Jesus and our cross. Which will you choose? Are we willing to do whatever it takes?
[1] Navaree Commentary pg. 124
[2] Isaiah 50:6
[3] 1 Jn. 4:9
[4] St. Jerome Biblical Commentary Mk. 8:32b.
[5] Jean-Baptiste Chautard, O.C.S.O; The Soul of the Apostolate
[6] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Modern Catholic Dictionary, page 461
[7] Romans 12:2
[8] Spritual Reading in this Packet
[9] CCC 1615
[10] Fernandez, In Conversation with God 5, 2.2 pg. 9
[11] Navarre Commentary pg. 124
[12] cf. John 15:1-6
[13] Isaiah 50:7