Do We Know Jesus, Go To Him, And Do His Will?
Introduction by the Celebrant
What are we looking for in life? Good health, happiness in our families, in our job, in our faith, good relationships with ourselves, with people and with God. When Jesus tells us today that we have to follow him in taking up the crosses that come our way, do we accept that as disciples of Jesus today? Do we take that as a part of our faith or do we say, “Lord, everything – but not that!”? Jesus assures us: “Anyone who loses his or her life for my sake will find life, will save life.” Come, let us meet the Lord who speaks to us.
First Reading: Suffering in Hope
In this third song of the servant of God, the prophet expresses his trust in God. He and God’s people suffer, but he is sure God is with him and will do him justice.
1 Reading Isaiah 50:5-9a
The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?
Responsorial Psalm 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
R. (9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. or: R. Alleluia.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called. R.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
“O LORD, save my life!” R
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me. R.
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living. R.
Second Reading: Faith Demands Practice
James knows that a person is saved by faith. Yet he stresses that faith must become visible in the deeds of a Christian.
2 Reading James 2:14-18
What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ”
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.
Indeed someone might say,
“You have faith and I have works.”
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
Alleluia Galatians 6:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord
through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me
Peter recognizes Jesus as the promised Saviour. But to win life for himself and for us, Jesus must first lose his life. We, his disciples, must go the way of the cross with him.
Gospel Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“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
and that of the gospel will save it.”
Commentary
Many times Jesus had to throw off the false identities that others had imposed on him. As a child he already knew that he was not quite simply a nice family boy: “did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” But labels are sticky; twenty years later, people still wanted to make him ordinary, by which they meant insignificant; “Is not this son of Joseph?” Label-sticking swings from one extreme to another; soon they wanted to make him king, but he escaped. He talked about all this with his closest friends: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The answers abounded. “Some say Elijah, some say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” We profess in the Creed, “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son and our Lord.” We say we know who he is, our Saviour and our Lord. Do we really know him? To know him deeply we not only have to listen to what he says but to know how he lived and died, giving himself totally to the Father and to people. Even that is not enough: we must follow in his footsteps by giving ourselves like him without reserve to God and to people. Then we will know Jesus from experience.
Blessing
Jesus did not run away
from the difficulties and pains
of his mission in life.
May God give you
the same loyalty and strength, and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with one another
the road of Jesus our Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.