“Whoever wants to become my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”. These words were proclaimed in today’s Holy Gospel.
Immediately after Peter had identified Jesus as the Christ, or Messiah, Jesus begins to teach his disciples what kind of Messiah he is. Like most Jews, Jesus’ disciples had misunderstood the Prophets. They expected the Messiah to be a powerful leader that would crush the Roman oppressor and restore the glory of Israel.
How shocking and distressing Jesus’ teaching about suffering and death must have been! To make matters worse, Jesus then suggests something unthinkable.
Not only must Jesus’ disciples accept the “bad news” about his passion, but they are required to follow in his footsteps. Just as Jesus will make a free choice to give up his life, they, too, must take up their cross. They must give themselves in order that, in the long run, they may find themselves.
However, these words were not just meant for the disciples of Jesus’ time. These words are addressed to us as well. Jesus is giving us the same message in 2021. We are called to make a deliberate choice to embrace the Cross.
Bishop Robert Barron puts it this way: “Notice that this is not simply a question of accepting suffering that happens to befall us. This is not simply a Stoic resignation. Jesus is telling those who follow him to actively take up their crosses, to seek them out, to carry them as Jesus willingly carried his.”
What Bishop Barron is saying is that, if we take our calling to be faithful to the Gospel seriously, we will have to accept a hard truth. There is a cost to following Christ. We will be required to surrender ourselves and let go of our very lives in radical love.
There are many examples throughout history where faith-filled individuals have imitated the Lord – they have literally sacrificed their lives for God or neighbor. Think of the countless number of martyrs whose blood has been spilled in the course of Christianity’s 2,000-year history.
There are also everyday cases of amazing acts of heroism and self-sacrifice. Twenty years ago today, 2 hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center. Franciscan Father Mychal Judge was a chaplain for the city’s firefighters. He was known for his interactions with people. He ministered to the homeless, recovering alcoholics – of which he was one – and those suffering from AIDS, visiting them when many priests would not.
Therefore, it was not surprising that he rushed to the scene of the attack, helping in whatever way he could and praying for those who were jumping from the building.
Judge died while giving last rites to a firefighter fatally wounded by a falling body. When the priest removed his fire helmet to pray, he was struck in the head by debris and killed.
Mychal Judge’s body was the first one released from Ground Zero. Therefore, his death certificate lists him as Victim #1 of the nearly 3,000 deaths of that day. Ironically, Fr. Mychal’s helmet and jacket were later found intact in the rubble.
On November 11, 2001, a group of New York City firefighters travelled to Vatican City. They presented Pope John Paul II with Fr. Mychal’s white helmet. The Pope used this occasion to pray for the families of the 343 firefighters who were killed in the rescue effort.
However, in all probability, you and I will not be required to shed our blood in the service of the Gospel. But make no mistake: as followers of Jesus, we are called to lay down our lives in service for others.
The obvious question is: “How can I live up to such a lofty ideal of commitment?” The short answer is to be like Fr. Mychal’s example and “rush to the scene” wherever there is a need.
I know parishioners for whom “rushing to the scene” means spending time with a loved one in hospital, long term care, continuing care or palliative care. I know parishioners for whom “rushing to the scene” means giving up their day to care for a loved one who is seriously ill, or to look after a person suffering from cancer or dementia, or to tend to the needs of a person with disabilities.
In these cases, these individuals are showing that they are Christian servants who have made the conscious decision that their life is not their own. They are showing beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have taken up their cross. They are revealing that their life is centered on others.
Many of you are mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. You routinely place the interests and needs of your children and grandchildren before your own. Father Ronald Rolheiser states that to be a parent or grandparent is to let your dreams and agenda be forever altered.
Parental love pulls our hearts out of its self-love; it reshapes the core of our being to help us to love more like God loves. It is the martyr’s belt around us that takes us where we would rather not go. As such, true parenting and grand parenting are genuine expressions of death to self.
Whenever we become instruments of generosity to those in need, whenever we are agents of compassion to the marginalized and most vulnerable, whenever we act as ministers of healing in the midst of pain, grief and sorrow, we are denying ourselves. In all of these moments, we offer God the gift of ourselves in order to build up his kingdom on this earth.
Yes, Jesus and our glorious martyrs made the ultimate sacrifice, but we, too, experience a very real martyrdom when we give our all in situations similar to the ones I have just described.
The point is that, in order to be true disciples, we are mandated to lay down and lose our lives. Only then do we find our lives eternally. “To save” our lives means to let go. The key to our lasting happiness is not in having or grabbing. It is in giving, not in getting. It is by first embracing the “tough news” of self-denial that we experience the “good news” of the Gospel. This is the essence of Christianity.
“Whoever wants to become my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”. It is utterly impossible to have a Cross-less life and be a Christian.
As our Mass continues, let us ask God for the courage, strength, perseverance and grace to give away our lives in the service of the Gospel in those circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Amen.
Deacon Roland Muzzatti
September 11-12, 2021