24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)
Scripture: Is. 50:5-9a; Ps. 116: 1-9; Jas. 2:14-18; Mk. 8:27-35
“Love Jesus, love Him very much, but to do this, be ready to love sacrifice more”, says St. Padre Pio. We have all heard about St. Padre Pio. He is one of the most inspiring Saints of the last century. The life of Padre Pio is admired today for his spiritual gifts but we should not forget it is his faith in times of suffering that makes him a saint.
He suffered from a sickness from his childhood, even after his ordination. He was separated from his community for more than five years. His sickness remained a mystery for his doctors. In September 1918, he was blessed with stigmata, the holy wound of Jesus on his body. He bore its pain with great humility. He served fifty-one years in the parish without a vacation for sometimes nineteen hours. He had such a small meal even that was not sufficient for a child.
I have been reading his personal letters which are now translated into English. Let me confess to you that I could not read them at one sitting. There is so much of pain and suffering mentioned by him that I could not read them. We venerate him today as St. Padre Pio but it is his strong faith in Jesus to endure all the suffering that made him one of my favourite saints. He is the perfect example of Christian discipleship. His heroic faith shined in his sufferings.
In today’s liturgy, Jesus invites us to be his disciples. He gives us three criteria: 1) He must renounce himself 2) Take up his cross 3) and follow me. (Mk. 8:34) It is interesting to note Jesus reveals these criteria for discipleship after the confession of St. Peter. This incident is the central point in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus predicts three times about his passion, death and resurrection (8:31; 9:30-31; 10:33-34). Each time, his disciples failed to understand him. But each time, Jesus took initiative to explain to them the deeper meaning of discipleship.
Jesus tells us that we need to renounce ourselves, take up our cross, must be last, live like children and we must become servants. His teaching underscores the value of cross and suffering in our life of faith. The disciples had spent considerable time with Jesus. They had witnessed mighty miracles, healings and exorcisms. They also had witnessed large crowds following him. They had no time to rest. They had rightly recognized Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one from God, the one supposed to come, the one who will deliver them.
Although they understood the person of Christ but did not understand the plan of God. They wanted Jesus to be a glorious political king like David. He would give them political freedom. They would reign with him over the Israel. They were not able to accept Jesus’ prediction of passion and death. It was beyond their imagination. When St. Peter tried to correct Jesus, he was sternly warned by Jesus. It is one of the stern rebukes of Jesus in the whole of the Gospel. We can understand, how much Jesus was radically obedient to His Father’s call. He knew that he had to suffer on the cross and die to fulfil the plan of His Father.
The other two readings of the liturgy of the word seamlessly synchronize the theme. The first reading creates a perfect background to understand the Gospel. There are four songs written in the middle of the book of Prophet Isaiah. They are called the song of the suffering servant. Today’s passage is taken from the third song. It narrates the servant’s humiliation and suffering. The servant totally trusting in the Lord, constantly repeats in his suffering, “the Lord God helps me”. It shows his heroic faith in God. When he read this passage, we are reminded of Jesus’ passion. Jesus fulfils the messianic vision of suffering servant of the prophet Isaiah.
If the first reading sets the perfect background for the Gospel, the second reading gives us proof that Jesus showed his radical faith through his works. In other words, Jesus preached the word of God through his actions. It tells us that the profession of faith in words are not enough but it has to be seen through our works. It is like a person who is preaching to the hungry and thirsty that God is love. His preaching will not have any relevance. Jesus has shown the way. Even though Jesus was the messiah, he chose to deny himself, he took up his cross and followed the will of God.
Jesus calls us today to be his disciples. We are called to make the radical choice of Christ just like the apostles. They denied themselves, took up their cross and followed Jesus. St. Padre Pio, a saint of modern times also showed us from his life that he followed the criteria of discipleship of Jesus in the most difficult times of his life. The world today needs witness of heroic faith in Jesus Christ. Are you ready to give witness of Christs’ discipleship in times of sufferings? Let our response be: Let our faith shine in the fire of suffering!
