The Wisdom and Love in Suffering

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 28, 2011 (Mt 16:21-27)

From that time on, 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 him 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 everyone according to his conduct."

After Peter was able to profess through God's revelation that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus explains what being the Messiah meant. The Jews were hoping that the Messiah will be the leader who will liberate them from the hands of their oppressors. But Jesus revealed to His apostles that He whom they have confirmed to be the Messiah will have to suffer, die and be raised on the third day.

This probably came as a shock for them. Peter could not accept this new revelation. He accepted and professed that Jesus is the Messiah; but he could not accept that this Messiah would have to suffer. Naturally, he was concerned for his Master so he didn't want him to suffer. But what he failed to realize is that the revelation that Jesus had to suffer, die and be raised is a revelation of how God, in His wisdom, has planned the salvation of men.

It sounded foolish to Peter and to the apostles that their expected liberator would have to suffer. As St. Paul said, "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor 1:22-23)." Yes, since Peter was not thinking as God does, he could not see Jesus' suffering and death as wise. Even we, thinking as human beings do, cannot fathom why or cannot appreciate that Jesus, the Messiah and the Son of God, had to suffer. But once we accept without doubt what God is revealing to us, we can see not only the wisdom of God's plan of salvation, but also the great love He has for us that He would let His Son die for us. Only then do we realize that "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:25)." And we marvel at this.

After rebuking Peter, Jesus explained that anyone who wishes to follow Him should take up His cross and be willing to lose their life for Him. This is a radical call. Jesus seems to be forgetting that man naturally loves what is comfortable and that man always clings to dear life. But again, this is a revelation. Jesus is warning His apostles, and even us who wish to follow Him, that becoming a Christian is no easy task. It is rewarding, but it is not easy.

Being a Christian means living out the values that Jesus taught us and rejecting the values of the world. Sometimes, we may be inconvenienced, ridiculed or even persecuted because we live as Christians, but we must remain loyal to Christ anyway. Again, it may be foolish to accept these difficulties instead of escaping them, but as in the case of Jesus who died for us, we do it anyway because we do it out of love - even if the world does not get it.

Jesus exhorts us today to think with the wisdom of God and to love with the love of God. Once we do, accepting suffering and carrying the cross will not seem foolish to us. It will be an expression of our love and loyalty to our Master who did the same, and even more, out of love for us.

To Come and Feast on His Table

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 16, 2009 (Jn 6:51-58)

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

It is very difficult to accept the teaching of Jesus about His giving of Himself as bread for all. Killing someone is a most gruesome sin. What more is eating someone's flesh? The Jews did not understand this teaching, nor was it easily accepted by the pagans who heard of it when the disciples preached Christianity to all nations. How could a God allow Himself to be eaten by people? This teaching challenged the wisdom of the pagans. As St. Paul puts it, "We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23)." When we think about it, it really is foolish of Jesus to offer Himself on the cross and as bread in the Eucharist. But, "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:23)."

Jesus' offering of Himself is the greatest sign of God's love for man. This is what God destined and revealed even in the first pages of the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, God promised to send a Savior who will defeat Satan. But who would have thought that God will save us in this way?

God must have judged it better to redeem us through the bitter passion and glorious resurrection of Jesus in order to give us an example of giving oneself, of giving everything without withholding anything. Through Jesus, God did not only redeem us; He also gave us a model to follow in order to avoid sinking in the quicksand that is sin.

In the Eucharist, Jesus continuously nourishes us and gives us life. He says, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6:53)." The souls of those who do not receive the Eucharist slowly become weak. The Eucharist is not a vitamin for the soul, giving it only extra strength; the soul needs it because it is its primary food. The Eucharist is Jesus, and Jesus is the only source of life and strength.

Therefore, we must receive the Eucharist often. If there are some things, like sin, for example, which hinder us from receiving it, we must denounce them with God's help, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We must strive to be worthy to receive the food of our soul. If we work hard to feed our bodies, we must work harder to feed our souls. Yes, this food is given free of charge, but we must be pure and worthy to receive it.

God, in His great love, is giving Himself as life-giving food for us. May we receive Him in faith. In receiving Him, Jesus comes to dwell in us, and we begin to live because of Him, with Him, in Him, and in the way He lived. On the last day, we shall be born in eternal life because we have fed our souls.

God has given us everything as a gift. We need only to come and feast on His table.