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Gospel: Matthew 16: 24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,
“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 will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope in May of last year, he took the name of Leo. I was surprised to learn that he previously spent a good portion of his priestly ministry as a missionary in Peru.
Prevost arrived in Peru the same year I was born, in 1985, landing shortly after devastating El Niño rains washed away a number of locals and their poorly constructed homes. His first task was to minister in a disaster area.
Life for Prevost didn’t get much better, at least in terms of worldly comforts. Just a few years after the floods came, Peru endured a bloody civil war. Still, in spite of floods and violence, he stayed the path; he loved his flock.
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When we hear about stories about people who do heroic things with their lives, it’s easy to not only admire their courage, but also to wonder, “Why?”
Why be ordained a priest? Why leave the comforts of America to live among the poorest of the poor? Why stay in a flood zone or war-torn country when you have a way out?
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Such were the feelings of Saint Peter when Jesus told him that they were headed to Jerusalem where the Son of Man would suffer, die, and be raised. Focusing too much on suffering and death, Peter forgot the final part of that plan.
He wanted a safe Jesus; a comfortable Jesus; a way for Christ to be his Lord – and for Peter to be his disciple – without having to walk the road of suffering.
This initiates Christ’s response in today’s Gospel: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
The Lord does not want us to die. He wants us to live!
But fear of death always turns into a fear of life.
Fear can freeze us into a comfortable existence whereby we can lose meaning and opportunities that God has in store for us – think no further than Pope Leo. Had he succumbed to fear, then he never would’ve become a priest, a missionary, or now the pope!
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Perhaps taking up our cross means letting go of our fears, too – the fear of losing control; the fear of suffering; the fear of death, so that God can strengthen us to truly live – not only in the here and now, but also in the life to come.
What might that look like today?
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Image credits: (1) Quo Vadis, Annibale Caracci, National Gallery, London (2) Pope Leo, America Magazine (3) Amazon, Shesinee