Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Fr Emil Lim SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Photo: Chapel at the Procure de Sainte Anne, Kinshasa, Congo
I wonder how Jesus felt as he contemplated the impending suffering and death he had to face in Jerusalem. Is it like entering the hospital, knowing that it might be one’s last trip? We immediately brush away such a morbid thought, as Peter did in today’s gospel. We understand Peter for being just a concerned friend, ready to comfort even with a somewhat toxic positivity. But not Jesus. He looked at the meaning behind the fact. And is it not what our readings are all about: meaning? Meaning gives reason to what may look like an unreasonable decision or action.
The prophet Jeremiah in the first reading argued with himself why he had to go out, shout, and preach the “word of the Lord” when all it brought him were reproaches and derisions. He found the reason in these striking words: “You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced.” The preacher Jeremiah concludes: “I grow weary holding back, I cannot!” I pray that all servants of the Word could say the same.
Jesus tried to prepare the disciples as one dying parent prepares his children for the inevitable. Peter and the other disciples were not prepared to accept because they had not yet understood that it was all God’s doing. “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” There is a saying: the enemy of the best is the good. That is when our good intentions and plans can be obstacles to God’s best plan. Can we trust God as Jesus trusted the Father? Our fiat (Your will be done) can really come in handy as we embrace God’s will.
The disciples had to learn the hard way Jesus’ lesson of letting go: risk it for a higher gain. We apply this principle when we gamble or invest in business. We understand that there is always a cost and a giveaway to anything valuable. But only those who figure that what is at stake is eternal gain will be less attached to lesser things of the world.
Only later on, when they grasped what Jesus meant, armed with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, the disciples would live and die by Jesus’ battle cry: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Many soldiers and citizens have valiantly fought wars for earthly causes upon the prodding of their leaders. Would we as Christian soldiers expect less when trying to win heaven?
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