Following Him Through His Cross

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.”

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I was in a mess for quite a number of days last week. My confusion over some things in school and within myself caused me to stumble a number of times--as a result, I wasn't able to attend daily Mass and even say my daily devotions.

The past few days saw me heavily burdened for a reason I cannot figure out even now. I pray to God that He give me clarity over how my spiritual life ought to be lived.

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Many of us have convictions we are very willing to fight and die for. The lives of the many martyrs we venerate in the Church are but examples of how men and women are willing to offer their lives for something they hold sacred and true. But how much are we passionate for the things we believe? Is it a healthy or a destructive passion?

This thought came to mind when I encountered comments from someone who insulted the Jesuit order and the Novus Ordo mass, concluding the Jesuits as "not Roman Catholic" and the Novus Ordo "useless."

The reasons for making such comments may still be debated upon, but the fact still remains that people have no right to judge and insult a Society which has produced canonized confessor and martyr saints, a Doctor of the Church and has espoused a very powerful form of spirituality. And the fact remains that people have no right to conclude that a particular approved rite of the Catholic Church is "useless."

Let us pray that God send His Spirit of love, unity and understanding within His Church.

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Take up my Cross and follow Me.

How much am I willing to suffer for the love of Christ?

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Saint Robert Bellarmine, defender of the Catholic faith, cardinal and Jesuit, pray for us.

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photo credits: http://www.gardenofpraise.com/images/jesu2b.jpg, http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/BDX/BDX341/judge-handing-down_~bxp64659.jpg, http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2007/04/05/cross.jpg