Catechism Links
CCC 618: Christ calls his disciples to take up the Cross and follow him
CCC 555, 1460, 2100: The Cross as the way to Christ’s glory
CCC 2015: Way to perfection by way of the Cross
CCC 2427: Carrying our cross in daily life
CCC Cross Reference:
Jer 20:7-18 2584
Rom 12-15 1454, 1971; Rom 12:1 2031; Rom 12:2 2520, 2826
Mt 16:21-23 540, 607; Mt 16:21 554; Mt 16:22-23 554; Mt 16:24-26 736; Mt 16:24 226, 618, 2029; Mt 16:25-26 363; Mt 16:25 2232; Mt 16:26 1021
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Reading 1
Jer 20:7-9
You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.
Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the Lord has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.
I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Reading II
Rom 12:1-2
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.
Gospel
Mt 16:21-27
Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“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.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Jeremiah 20:7 – 9
You have seduced me, the Lord, and I have let myself be seduced;
you have overpowered me: you were the stronger.
I am a daily laughing-stock,
everybody’s butt.
Each time I speak the word, I have to howl
and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’
The word of the Lord has meant for me
insult, derision, all day long.
I used to say, ‘I will not think about him,
I will not speak in his name any more.’
Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones.
The effort to restrain it wearied me,
I could not bear it.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-9
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
For you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
Second reading Romans 12:1 – 2
Think of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.
Gospel Matthew 16:21 – 27
From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?
‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behavior.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Jeremiah 20:7-9
Jeremiah's fifth "confession"
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[7] O Lord, thou has deceived me,
and I was deceived;
though art stronger than I,
and thou hast prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
and every one mocks me.
[8] For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, "Violence and destruction!"
For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
[9] If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
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Commentary:
20:7-18. This last, very dramatic "confession" is one of the most impressive passages in prophetical literature. It (especially vv. 14-18) has features in common with Job 3:1-10. It could have been uttered around 605-604 BC when Jeremiah was being persecuted by King Jehoiakim. Despite all his efforts, Jeremiah feels that he has failed; he believes in God -- but could it be that he never received a special call? It is a time of inner crisis for Jeremiah. He laments his vocation, for it has led to his persecution (vv. 7-9); then he makes an act of trust in God despite the harassment he is suffering (vv. 10-13); the passage ends with a series of imprecations (vv. 14-18).
The prophet confides his feelings to God and complains about his calling (v. 7a). It looks as if God has misled him (v. 7b): the prophet has made enemies on every side. When he proclaims the word of God no one listens: reproach and derision are the only response he gets (v. 10). He would like to walk away. Yet he cannot, for God is like a "burning fire" in his heart (v. 9). Despite all his difficulties, his zeal for the Lord wins the day: it only goes to prove that those who have experienced desire to make him known to others -- to those who once knew him and have forgotten him, and to those who have never heard of him. That is the message that Theodoret of Cyrus takes from this passage, recalling the example of St. Paul: "The same happened to St. Paul as he stood in silence in Athens. His soul burned within him when he saw the terrible idolatry that was practiced in that city (cf. Acts 17:16). The prophet had the same experience" (Interpretatio in Jeremiam, 20, 9). And when Origen reads this passage and asks himself whether God could ever deceive someone, he explains: "We are little children, and we must be treated as little children. God, therefore, entrances us in order to form us, although we may not be aware of this captivation before the appropriate time comes. God does not deal with us as people who have already left childhood, who can no longer be led by sweet words but only by deeds" (Homiliae in Jeremiam, 19, 15).
In spite of everything, Jeremiah is sure that God will never forsake him (v. 11). From what he says, we can see that there is an inner tension between his experience of all kinds of sufferings (vv. 14-18) and the conviction that God will never leave him (vv. 12-13). What he says in v. 18 could suggest that he is utterly depressed, but what he is doing is baring his soul to someone whom he loves and trusts entirely, even in the midst of total darkness and a sense of powerlessness. Events will show this to be the case: Jeremiah did not give up his ministry but persevered in it to the end of his life. He admits his limitations but he stays true to God: this bears out what the Lord will tell St. Paul when he feels the situation is beyond him: "My power is made perfect in your weakness" (2 Cor 12: 9).
Meditating on this "confession" of Jeremiah, St John of the Cross concludes that sometimes God's purposes are impossible to understand: "It is very difficult to attempt to understand fully the words and deeds of God, or even to decide what they may be, without falling often into error or becoming very confused. The prophets who were entrusted with the word of God knew this well; their task of prophesying to the people was a daunting one, for the people could not always see what was spoken coming to pass. Therefore, they mocked and laughed at the prophets, as Jeremiah says: I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me (20:7). Although the prophet speaks as though resigned to his fate, in the voice of a weak man who is unable to bear any longer the vicissitudes of God, he makes clear the difference between the prophecy and its fulfillment and the common sense that the divine sayings contain, because he knows that the prophets were often taken as mischief-makers" (Ascent of Mount Carmel, 2, 20, 6).
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From: Romans 12:1-2
Solidarity in the Mystical Body
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[1] I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[2] Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
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Commentary:
1. In the New Testament Christians are clearly called to offer sacrifices to God--no longer sacrifices of animals, as in the Old Law, but offerings of themselves. This new kind of worship must take a spiritual form, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman, rather than a purely material form: it must be something living, holy, not merely external and formal, and pleasing to God (cf. Jn 4:23). "It is by the apostolic preaching of the Gospel that the people of God is called together and gathered so that all who belong to this people, sanctified as they are by the Holy Spirit, may offer themselves 'a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God' (Rom 12:1)" (Vatican II, "Presbyterorum Ordinis", 2).
The basis of this priestly meaning of Christian life is to be found in the sacrament which makes us members of Christ's body: "Through Baptism all of us have been made priests of our lives, 'to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ' (1 Pet 2:5). Everything we do can be an expression of our obedience to God's will and so perpetuate the mission of the God-man" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 96).
Every day the Christian can and should offer himself along with Christ in the Holy Mass: "If the oblation whereby the faithful in this Sacrifice offer the divine victim to the heavenly Father is to produce its full effect [...] they must also offer themselves as victim, desiring intensely to make themselves as like as possible to Jesus Christ who suffered so much, and offering themselves as a spiritual victim with and through the High Priest himself" (Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 25). From this it follows that the whole Christian life and the struggle which it implies are imbued with deep priestly significance: "If I renounce everything I possess, if I carry the cross and follow Christ, I have offered a holocaust on the altar of God, or if I burn up my body in the fire of charity [...] I have offered a holocaust on the altar of God [...]; if I mortify my body and abstain from all concupiscence, if the world is crucified unto me and not me unto the world, then I have offered a holocaust on the altar of God and I am become a priest of my own sacrifice" (Origen, "In Lev. Hom.", 9, 9).
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From: Matthew 16:21-27
Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection
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[21] From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. [22] And Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to You." [23] But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men."
[24] Then Jesus told His disciples, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? [27] For the Son of Man is to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man for what he has done.
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Commentary:
23. Jesus rejects St. Peter's well-intentioned protestations, giving us to understand the capital importance of accepting the cross if we are to attain salvation (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23-25). Shortly before this (Matthew 16:17) Jesus had promised Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon"; now He reproves him: "Get behind me, Satan." In the former case Peter's words were inspired by the Holy Spirit, whereas what he says now comes from his own spirit which he has not yet sloughed off.
24. "Divine love, `poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us' (Romans 5:5), enables lay people to express concretely in their lives the spirit of the Beatitudes. Following Jesus in His poverty, they feel no depression in want, no pride in plenty; imitating the humble Christ, they are not greedy for vain show (cf. Galatians 5:26). They strive to please God rather than men, always ready to abandon everything for Christ (cf. Luke 14:26) and even to endure persecution in the cause of right (cf. Matthew 5:10), having in mind the Lord's saying? `If any man wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me'" (Matthew 16:24) ("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).
25. A Christian cannot ignore these words of Jesus. He has to risk, to gamble, this present life in order to attain eternal life: "How little a life is to offer to God!" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 420).
Our Lord's requirement means that we must renounce our own will in order to identify with the will of God and so to ensure that, as St. John of the Cross comments, we do not follow the way of those many people who "would have God will that which they themselves will, and are fretful at having to will that which He wills, and find it repugnant to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens to them that oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their own will and pleasure is not the will of God; and that, on the other hand, when they themselves find satisfaction, God is satisfied. Thus they measure God by themselves and not themselves by God" ("Dark Night of the Soul", Book 1, Chapter 7, 3).
26-27. Christ's words are crystal-clear: every person has to bear in mind the Last Judgment. Salvation, in other words, is something radically personal: "He will repay every man for what he has done" (verse 27).
Man's goal does not consist in accumulating worldly goods; these are only means to an end; man's last end, his ultimate goal, is God Himself; he possesses God in advance, as it were, here on earth by means of grace, and possesses him fully and forever in Heaven. Jesus shows the route to take to reach this destination --denying oneself (that is, saying no to ease, comfort, selfishness and attachment to temporal goods) and taking up the cross. For no earthly--impermanent—good can compare with the soul's eternal salvation. As St. Thomas expresses it with theological precision, "the least good of grace is superior to the natural good of the entire universe" ("Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 113, a. 9).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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