Dear Friends,
As I write this, I am away on retreat and a few days off, and I am taken up with today’s readings (October 17) for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah, Hebrews, Mark. These insights that follow are prompted by the excellent commentary offered by Dr. Tim Gray, of Augustine Institute and available on FORMED.org.
Usually, this portion of Mark’s Gospel about the ambition of James and John and then the indignation of the other ten Apostles leads to a reflection on the lack of understanding of the Apostles as to Jesus’ mission and the ways of God which are so different than our ways. And that is a truly important reflection.
Today, I am struck by the direct connection of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the Lord’s Suffering Servant who will justify many with the words of Jesus in the Gospel. Isaiah’s prophecy of course is fulfilled by Jesus Christ Himself. There is a direct connection from Isaiah to Jesus’ question to the Apostles, “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
In other words, Jesus asks, are you willing to follow Me in every way, to the point of picking up your crosses and joining them to Mine? How many times I remember while growing up hearing my Mom say, “offer it up.” How many times I have listened to Jesus’ words, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” All the while, thinking, hoping, even praying that the cross would pass me by. That somehow, one can slip through life in this world easily, with minimal suffering or minimal challenges. But the reality is that everyday in someway or another the cross comes to us. Which means that we need to make a choice whether to accept it and join it to Jesus’ Cross, so as to allow it to become sanctifying.
As Saint John Henry Newman once pointed out, Jesus does not say put down your cross because I am taking one up for you. No, Jesus is bluntly telling us that He is going to suffer and die to atone for our sins so that His grace can be available to us to carry our crosses and allow them to be sanctified.
So, to follow Jesus, to truly be a disciple, means to die to self and self-love, to live for something greater, to live for Jesus and His kingdom. This is an adventure and a risk. This world is caught up in itself, it encourages us to live for ourselves, for the here and now. Christian Faith involves us with living beyond ourselves and beyond this world. That is the glory of Faith, of discipleship in Jesus.
The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is our great High Priest who sympathizes with our weakness and was tested in every way without ever sinning. That means we can go to Him confidently with our weaknesses and failures and implore from Him His grace and mercy to remain faithful to Him each day as we face the multitudinous challenges of this world. How glorious to be set free from this world and from self-love, to live here and now in, for, with, and through Jesus Christ and His Cross!
God bless you, God love you,
Monsignor McCulken
