Zach 12:10-11; 13:1;
Gal 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24
Peter
may have been partially right about who Jesus was, but he was completely wrong
about what following Jesus would mean for him. Jesus was on his way to a cross, not a throne, and those who followed
him must be ready to follow him on this road of obedience to God's redemptive
will and sacrifice for the salvation of others.
Those
who preach a cheap grace or a gospel of health and wealth not only offer false
promises, but also they preach a false gospel. That is not the gospel of
Christ.
The
crossless discipleship is not an option for us if we want to call ourselves the
disciples of Christ.
The
pope Francis called it recently "a half-way Christianity." He says
that there is a risk in all of us to succumb to the "temptation of a
Christianity without a cross. A half-way Christianity"; (It is very
interesting that he also mentions that there is also another temptation that of
"a Christianity with the cross but without Jesus".) He calls it the "temptation of
triumphalism". "We want triumph now", the pope says,
"without going to the cross, a worldly triumph, a reasonable
triumph".
If we
would have continued reading today's gospel according to Luke up to verse 28 of
this 9th chapter we would easily be able to summarize five conditions required
of us to be the disciples of Christ. Namely, Jesus requires of us, not just
once, or on sporadic basis, but on daily basis, every day from time we wake up
to time we fall in sleep:
1. A
total commitment of life,
2. Taking
the cross,
3. Giving
one's life in obedience to Jesus' direction,
4. Forsaking
the pursuit of wealth,
5. Living
out one's discipleship publically before others.
These
are not the abstract requirements. They are also not given to us just for a
purpose of providing some cognitive, rational, intellectual answers. They are
not given to us just to have the academic discussions. They are given to us so
we truly might become the disciples of Christ by the way we live our lives.
We do
not become the disciples of Christ by coming to church even if every weekend,
or going to confession at least once a year, or by being baptized.
We
become the disciples of Christ by living our lives in the ways Christ requires
of us. By the way we give witness to Him and His requirements of discipleship.
So let us look closer at ourselves and
our community. Let us ask ourselves some questions, but a very few ones because
of the time constraints.
What
kind of disciples of Christ are we:
· when
we choose on constant basis for example, ballet, soccer or football over
learning about our faith or over celebration of the Eucharist?
· when
we come to the Eucharistic celebration or activities of St. Mary's community expecting
a few to constantly serve us and to entertain us, to deliver for us what will
make us feel better?
· when
we have no problem in buying Starbuck lattes and espressos, or dining out at
expensive restaurants, or having expensive and lavish wedding but do not
support or very little financially ministries of the church?
· when
we look at others as an obstacle to our relationship with God, don't want to
even learn their names, but easily criticize them and gossip about them?
Where
in all of those is the cross? Where in all those is sacrifice for the salvation
of others and not just family members or friends but also the members of St.
Mary's community, the mystical body of Christ?
There
is no crossless discipleship of Christ. And if any of us think otherwise, we as well
should consider ourselves as fools and loosers.
23Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after
me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily*
and follow me.n
24For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.o
26Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of
Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the
Father and of the holy angels.p
27Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who
will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
No comments:
Post a Comment