Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me

For the scripture readings for today's mass you can go to: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080720.cfm 

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

These are challenging words from our Lord. In order be his follower, we must forget ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him. He is to be the center of who we are if we wish to be true to our calling as Christians.

Just before this part of the gospel, Our Lord indicated that he was going to Jerusalem and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders, be put to death, and then rise on the third day. The apostles, especially Peter, had trouble accepting this. Peter said, “God forbid, Lord. Such a fate must never happen to you.” Peter, out of love for Jesus, was worried about such a horrible death that Jesus was going to face. Jesus quickly rebukes him and lets Peter know that we must think with the understanding of God, not of men. Jesus was making it clear that it is part of God’s plan for Jesus to go and be crucified and die for our sins. Further, Peter and the others disciples seem to miss the good news that Jesus will rise again on the third day.

The whole life and ministry of Jesus was to bring salvation to all people, and to have us turn from our sinfulness and selfishness and to turn to God for salvation. In these trying times with the virus still surrounding us, civil unrest shaking our cities, and the worries that come with everyday living, we need to be able to turn to Jesus and place all our cares and worries upon him. These are the crosses that Jesus is talking about. We need to take our cares and worries, carry them to Him, and he will be there to help us carry them.

It is natural to be worried about all the terrible things that are going on in the world and in our lives. But Jesus wants us to look beyond the pain and suffering and to know that He is present in every situation. Eventually there will be healing and peace.  

By praying and offering our prayers to God, eventually the virus will be gone from our society and there will be peace in our cities. But in order for this to happen we have to bring our crosses, in the form of prayer to Jesus, and ask Him to enter our society to bring that healing and peace that can only come from God.

Let us each day at mass offer up our cares and worries and offer our crosses to the Lord and ask him to help us carry them. And with the great Carmelite, St. Teresa of Avila, let us pray in these words: “Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience gains all; nothing is lacking to those who have God: God alone is sufficient.” Amen.