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Dear brothers and sisters,

Mark’s Gospel gives a rather shorter account of Peter’s profession of faith in the Lord. As with Matthew’s text, it is after this profession of faith that Jesus begins to prepare His friends for the fact that He is to be put to death and, after three days, rise again. The thought of the Lord’s death is too much for Peter. The one who had professed his faith so clearly, very quickly receives a rebuke from the Lord for his unwillingness to accept the whole message.

We cannot pick and choose in our response to Christ. The Cross must come before resurrection. If we are to be His disciples – truly His disciples – we must take up the Cross. We must be willing to follow Him. Just as resurrection follows crucifixion, our renunciation and acceptance of the Cross, our following of Jesus, leads to life – life to the full, as Jesus reminds us in John’s Gospel: “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

James, in the Second Reading this Sunday, addresses this question from the point of view of service of others. The giving of ourselves for others is a mark of our faith, a mark of our true discipleship.

Being a Christian, a Catholic, in our present times – as at any other time in history – is not a continually easy path. The greatest moments of joy and fulfilment come when we are doing what the Lord calls us to do – what the Lord calls us to be. They are not the moments when we pander to our perceived wants, the moments when we listen to ourselves.

The Lord calls us to be His disciples in every sense of that word. The way may seem very daunting at times, but it is the way that leads to life. Guided by the Holy Spirit, may we choose the way that leads to life, may we always take up the Cross and, in doing so, choose Christ. We need not fear in taking this step, for He is always for us; He is always with us.

With every blessing,

+ Richard

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