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Gospel: Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Many of us remember Billy Graham, perhaps the most popular American preacher of the 20th century.
He once shared a story about his wife, Ruth, who was driving through a construction zone on a highway for several miles. After carefully following the detours and warning signs, she came to the last sign that read:
“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
Struck by the message, she went home chuckling, telling Billy that she wanted that line engraved on her tombstone. And when the time came, it was.
“Ruth Bell Graham. June 10, 1940 – June 14, 2007. End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
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Like Ruth Graham, we’re all a work in progress.
Consider Peter in today’s Gospel.
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Jesus turns to him and the others asking, “Who do you say that I am?”
You can imagine the other eleven looking up or down, whistling, shuffling their feet, hoping not to be called upon. They’ve seen Jesus do miraculous things, but remain unsure as to who he really is.
Then, Peter pipes up, “You are the Christ! The Son of the living God!”
In Matthew’s Gospel, immediately after Peter’s great confession of faith, Jesus says, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
This is Peter’s brightest moment. Immediately after his great confession of faith, however, Peter rejects the idea of carrying a cross and denies Jesus’ need to suffer.
So, Jesus rebukes him, calling him, “Satan!”
In a single passage, Peter experiences a dramatic high and a quick fall from grace. His profession of faith signals that he’s only reached the beginning – not the end – of his spiritual journey.
Like us, he remains a “work in progress.” So, he tries taking up his cross again, and resumes following Jesus.
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But what is this mysterious “cross” that Jesus is referring to?
For Peter, it meant leaving his family, his livelihood, and his hometown behind, journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem, witnessing his death and resurrection, then becoming the first leader of the Catholic Church here on earth.
But for us? What kind of cross does the Lord ask us to carry?
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That clumsy, awkward, often hard to carry cross called life.
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We might re-interpret Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel, then, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his life and follow me.”
So many of us carry the weight of marriage, children, careers, caring for a sick spouse or parent, or taking care of our own health, and so on.
Spiritually, we also make the daily effort to draw closer to Jesus, putting his teachings of love and forgiveness into practice. On this weekend anniversary of 9/11, we’re reminded of how hard that can be.
We don’t have to add any weight to our shoulders.
We simply can’t shrug it off.
That’s the cross.
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So, what does my cross – my life – look like at the moment? Is it light and easy to carry? Or is it more burdensome?
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However our crosses may feel at the moment, we start again, knowing that the Lord is with us. Like Peter, we’re all a work in progress. Thank you for your patience.
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Image credits: (1) Christian Cross Art, Pat Spark (2) Tiny Buddha, Twitter (3) The Peanut Gallery, WordPress