Posted by The WORD in other words (2017) by Father Glenn Paul Gomez SVD – Divine Word College of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – A
It is natural to run away from pain and suffering. Psychology even identifies two disorders related to pain: sadism (deriving pleasure from inflicting pain) and masochism (deriving pleasure from receiving pain). Both are sicknesses, not virtues.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples that He will suffer greatly at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed. Peter, impulsive and passionate, protests: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” But Jesus rebukes him sharply: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Matthew 16:23).
Jesus’ suffering is not meaningless—it is salvific. It carries the element of sacrifice that leads to healing and salvation. The word sacrifice comes from the Latin sacrum facere—“to make holy.” Thus, Jesus’ pain and death are understood as acts of love that sanctify us. “By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Our overseas Filipino workers embody this spirit of sacrifice. They leave their families, endure loneliness, and work abroad to provide for their loved ones. Their sacrifices “save” and “heal” their families—sending children to school, buying medicine for parents, supporting siblings with small businesses, or providing transportation. Even the nation benefits from their remittances, and rightly they are called our new heroes.
Their example shows that sacrifice, when embraced with love, becomes life-giving.
Jesus concludes with a challenge: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25).
This is not a call to sadism or masochism, but to meaningful sacrifice—embracing our crosses with love, courage, and faith.
Suffering becomes holy when it is united with Christ’s sacrifice. Like Him, and like our modern-day heroes, we are invited to make our lives fruitful by giving ourselves away. To carry our cross is not to seek pain, but to transform it into love.
“If we endure, we will also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12).
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