Corpus Christi Blog

Disciple of Christ means suffering

08-31-2014HomiliesFr. Chad King

Our powerful Gospel today follows immediately after last week’s Gospel in which Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, and Christ said he would build the Church upon Peter, the rock, and promised the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.  And in this Gospel today, we learn that for the Church to prevail over the enemy, there must be a battle.  Indeed, we have entered into a battle.  There must be a battle because love in the world is always confronted by, to use Saint John Paul II’s phrase, the culture of death.  One of the primary characteristics of the culture of death is selfishness; looking out for the self, doing whatever I want to do, whatever will make me happy.  True love, which is always the opposite of selfishness, is always in opposition against this culture of death we live in, and so we live in a battle, there is a battle in our own hearts.

Jesus enters into the battle, the battle of love, the battle of love even unto death.  Jesus tells his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly, even to the point of being killed; but on the third day will be raised from the dead.   God knows the only way to defeat the culture of selfishness, the culture of death, is to willingly give up his very life, even to the point of death, for the good, for the salvation of others, and the victory in the battle.

At hearing what Jesus would have to undergo, Peter, not understanding this battle, tried to rebuke Jesus, thinking that God should not have to suffer and die.  Like Peter, many people are comfortable with their version of Jesus, their idea of who Jesus is, or should be.  Many people think Jesus is just a good guy who taught us to love one another, just be nice to one another, and so they think that it is a tragedy that Jesus would be killed, like Peter did.  These kind of people don’t understand they are in a battle.  They don’t really know what love looks like, they don’t know true sacrificial love, and so they don’t really know Jesus.  The real Jesus, who is love incarnated, willingly goes to Jerusalem.  Jesus understands that real love means to be in opposition, it means to undergo suffering, and it even means to lay down one’s life for the good and salvation of others.

And because Peter was not understanding what Jesus was doing, Jesus says those chilling words, “Get behind me, Satan, you are thinking not as God does but as human beings do”.  Peter let his faith in Jesus to waver.  He was comfortable with Jesus being the Messiah, preaching, teaching, healing and gaining fame and love of others, but when it came to the crux of what true love looks like, Peter became skeptical.  Ironically, Peter, who is the rock, has become a stumbling stone.  Peter who just spoke the truth of Jesus, is now a spokesperson for the father of lies.  The great lie is that Christianity can be lived without the Cross, without suffering love.  Let me repeat that, the great lie is that Christianity can be lived without the Cross, without suffering love. 

Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me”.  Get behind me, Peter, and follow me.  Follow me as I go to Jerusalem and show what love really is, follow me as I lay down my life for yours.  It’s easy to follow Jesus as he walks in great fame with many people around him, it is easy to follow Jesus as he enters into glory, but isn’t it so difficult to follow Jesus in the suffering and even death of self.  My brothers and sisters, to be a Christian is to share the mission of Christ.  It means to join in the battle, the battle for the salvation of souls, and the only way to win is to follow Jesus even to the point of suffering and dying to self for the good and salvation of others.  There is a cost to discipleship, it will cost us to follow Jesus.  Yes, it will cost us what it cost Jesus, suffering to the point of death. 

We can have the human tendency to protect ourselves, to want self-preservation.  We as humans think first to avoid any kind of trouble and suffering, but God who is love thinks always with love, even when love entails suffering and death of self.  To be a disciple means that we think as God does, not as human beings do.  So the question is- how do you, how do I think, what is your enduring question in life?  Do you think- how do I avoid pain or how do I love?  What your enduring question is will shape our life- how selfish we live our lives.  Living a life of love always entails suffering, because it is in opposition in this culture of death.  Each and every one of us have some kind of suffering in our lives. Of course I am not saying that we should deny ourselves by never going to the Doctor or take medicine again, it is OK to do that, they are a gift from God.  But in the meantime, knowing that suffering is inevitable, let us offer up our suffering for the good, for the salvation of ourselves and others.  Offering up our suffering contributes the salvation of ourselves and others.

And so my brothers and sisters, we are in a battle, a battle against the culture of death, and a battle in our hearts between self-protection and self-denial, between selfishness and love.  We are made to defeat the culture of death, we are made to receive the glory of God and to live eternally.  But for us to receive the glory and the life; we must do what love requires, we must deny ourselves, pick up our Crosses and follow him.  We must live our lives not for ourselves, but for others.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.  For what profit is there if we live for ourselves and gain the whole world but lose who we are made to be, lose the glory and life we are made for, and lose the battle for our salvation and the salvation of others.

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