by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
September 5, 2021
Twenty Fourth Sunday in OT (B)
Isaiah 50: 4-9 / Psalm 116: 1-6, 8-9 /
James 2: 14-18 / Mark 8: 27-35
TRUE VICTORY THROUGH THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST
Word: Peter’s declaration of faith: You are the Christ” and the subsequent teaching of Jesus marks a turning point in the gospel of Mark. Earlier in the gospel Jesus was traveling from one town or city to another, teaching, healing, and discussing God’s reign. After this event in today’s gospel reading, although he continues to teach and heal, Jesus turns decisively toward the city of Jerusalem where he will meet his sufferings and death.
Although Jesus’ question regarding his identity is innocent enough, it is clear that many people have misunderstood his mission and identity. Many people were saying, Jesus is “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” (Mk 8:28).
It is left to Peter to identify Jesus as the one for whom Israel had been waiting for long, the one in whom the people could place their hope.
Jesus seems to accept this designation, but not without serious misgivings. He must correct their mistaken assumption that the Messiah would be a political leader, perhaps a revolutionary, or a priestly figure, or a prophet, or an eschatological judge, or at least a respected and revered teacher. Instead, Jesus teaches that he will be rejected, even to death. “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” (Mk 8: 31).
“Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him” (Mk 8:32). Peter’s discomfort with such a Messiah is understandable. Peter must be thinking what glory would there be in death? So he disputes Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus’ response is harsh; he has no patience for anyone who attempts to weaken his resolve or sacrifice principle for comfort. “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” (Mk 8:33).
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Order: Today’s passage ends with Jesus’ teaching about discipleship. “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” (Mk 8:34-35). Yes, following Jesus involves suffering. There is no alternative. Just as Jesus had to travel the long road to Jerusalem and death in order to experience the glory of the resurrection, so also those who believe in him be willing to walk the path he trod.
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Realities: 1. I have an atheist friend who on clear winter nights goes up to the roof of his house and watches the stars through the telescope which he has set up. For hours on end he delights in looking at the moon in its phases and at the planets and star clusters. He once told me, “It is a fantastic sight with all those bodies moving about so orderly. With that telescope I can pick up many fine points in the heavens. But I’ve never yet been able to find God … If there were one, I could probably see him … ”
I myself one night went up and spent lots of time looking at the wonders of the heavens through that telescope and then I told him, “I can’t see God either … But maybe the fault is with the telescope.” (Bert Balling, GOD’S EXISIENCE)
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2. The famous author of “The Song of Bernadette,” Franz Werfel, gave an enthusiastic graduation talk at Mundelein College for Girls in Chicago, all about the Blessed Virgin. This was all the more remarkable since the students all knew that he was a Jew.
During the short question period after the speech, one student asked the refugee from Nazi persecution, “Mr. Werfel, if I am not getting too personal, could you explain how it is that you seem to know so much about the Catholic Church and its teachings, and still you are not a Catholic?”
“Yes,” he answered, “I can, Faith is a gift, and I have not yet received that gift.” (Daniel Lord, FAITH IS A GIFT)
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3. An old gardener was dying and sent for his two sons. He told them, “For years our orchard has given the best of fruit – golden delicious fruit. Look at my calloused hands, worn by the spade. But you two have never done a day’s work in your lives. I’ll tell you what I have done. I have hidden a treasure in my orchard for you to find. It is not near the tree trunks; it is midway between the trees. It is yours for the trouble of digging, that’s all.”
So he sent them away and not long afterwards he died. The orchard became the property of the sons. So without delay, they set to work to dig the treasure that had been promised them.
They dug and dug, day after day, week after week. They dug up all the stones and picked out all the weeds. Winter passed and spring came and the trees were loaded with blossoms and perfume. After months came harvest time … but the brothers had not yet found the hidden treasure.
They struck a bargain with the merchant, took the bags of money home, while he began to gather the fruit. He told them, “I’ll be glad to buy your crop next year again. You must have worked hard with your spades to produce such a crop.”
When he went, the two boys sat looking at each other over the bags of money. Then they looked down at their rough hands and smiled as one said, “You know, I think this is the treasure we’ve been digging for all year.” (Aesop, WORK BRINGS TREASURE)
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4. Many of us in our present times, like Peter, do not see that victory is not served on an easy platter, even to the Messiah. Our lives on this world, many of us think, must be spent in easy comfort. Even going to church is no longer a “sacrifice”. It is better to spend the rest day in the fully airconditioned malls or in a cool swimming pool. In front of the awesome presence of Jesus at the Blessed Sacrament, we seem to no longer know how to have right manners or clothes. We disdain “pain and suffering”. We forget that any victorious warrior must first pass through fire. We seldom recall that the task of Messiah is to free, not Israel from bondage of foreign dictators, but mankind from the ugly bondage of sin.
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Direction : Lord, by the most holy sufferings which we, your unworthy servants, devoutly call to mind, and by your holy Cross and death deliver us from the pains of hell, and be pleased to take us where you took the penitent thief who was crucified with you. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen. (Prayer for the Grace of the Passion, People’s Prayer Book, no. 841)