“Be proud that you are helping God to bear the cross, and don’t grasp at comforts. It is only mercenaries who expect to be paid by the day. Serve Him without pay.” ~St. Teresa of Avila
Discipleship—No Side-Stepping the Cross
Nothing in my priestly ministry grounds me more than when I visit the sick at the hospital. Many of my siblings have also dedicated their lives to the service of others in the healing professions. Several times a week I visit people in the hospital. Inevitably I find myself on the rehabilitation floor of the orthopedic department. I’ve shared many stories with Dr. Amy D’Antonio, whose specialty is Physical Medicine, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation. She serves as the physician for Central Valley High School in Center Twp., Beaver Co. It is good to share stories of faith from our respective positions.
Recently I met two patients who were in the same room, had the same doctor, belonged to the same parish, and shared the same pain: one had a hip replacement and the other a knee replacement. As I walked in to visit them, I was delighted that there was family there to give them courage and strength under trying circumstances. Both patients communicated to me that their lives had come to a screeching halt and the only answer was relief through surgery. But there would be a long charted course of rehabilitation, in order to reach the ‘end’ and arrive at a ‘new beginning’ .
The doctor conveyed that physicians ‘overhaul’ and ‘re-toll’ the parts of the physical anatomy. She hoped that they would also have a renewal or restoration of faith. She would say, “Fr. Rich, we repair the physical parts and send them out to continue their journey at home. You do the important part of preparing their hearts and souls for their journey to their eternal home.” Isn’t it humbling to walk and help one another as disciples of the Lord? I believe that the spiritual life is one of making progress and back-sliding. We are either moving forward or we’re losing ground. But there is no standing still in neutral with discipleship.
The gospel of St. Mark has a brief introduction and then it makes us come face to face with the identity of the cross. Jesus begins to show his disciples that the road to fulfillment is through suffering. This picture of suffering, death, and resurrection puts everything into perspective. Three times, Jesus repeats this prophecy and three times they appear dense, dumb, and clueless. Caesarea Philippi is the turning point and the middle of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus turns and asks the Twelve: “Who do you say that I am?” ~Mark 8:27
The Mediterranean culture of the Middle East was an ‘honor-shame’ culture. They depended on their families for everything. Their rule was, “Take care of family first.” In our western culture we say that it doesn’t matter what others think of us—just what we think of ourselves. We pride ourselves on individualism, self-reliance, independence from others, and personal competencies. The western culture supports a so-called ‘narcissistic kingdom of Caesar’ approach to life: “Go for the power! Revel in the position! Enjoy popularity! Seek out all the glory and notoriety that you can!” But Jesus reminds us that discipleship is not about attaining power, glory, fame and honor. We are not to follow him as a great military leader who will be victorious in battle. For this Messiah, the Son of God, real life comes only through death and defending other’s lives for the sake of the gospel.
In Sr. Melannie Svoboda’s book, “Jesus, I’m a Teacher, Too—Guidance and Inspiration from the Gospels” she states, “Jesus must have told them something like, ‘Well, Jesus, 30% say you’re John the Baptist, 28% say you’re Elijah, 20% say you’re one of the prophets, and the rest are undecided.’”
But then Jesus asks a more difficult question - one that mattered most: “Who do you say that I am?” Yes, that means we must answer the question for ourselves. Peter gave the proverbial right answer, but he had no understanding of the implications of what a Messiah meant. ‘Cross-accepting’ always requires self-denial, world-denial, and sin-denial.
Jesus had to explain the cost of discipleship. We learn the theology of the cross and everything that flows from it. First Jesus predicts his Passion, Death and Resurrection; secondly, the disciples misunderstand what he is saying; and thirdly Jesus presents a corrective teaching unfolding the meaning of the theology of the cross. ~Mark 8:27-30, 9:30-37, 10:32-45.
Jesus wants us to do a cross-examination and even a confrontation upon deciding to follow him whole-heartedly. He calls us to the heights of an un-aesthetical and penitential life that does not mirror the culture’s false beliefs. As he shares and embraces the cross, so too, we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross to follow in his footsteps. Being a disciple is not always pretty, easy, or glorious but we must do God’s will and not our own will.
Sometimes like Peter, we get too big for our own britches and we forget that Jesus is the Master and we, the disciples. We can’t follow Jesus on our own terms. Again like Peter, we need to be put back in line—rebuked, chided, and corrected. What else would have brought Peter’s life to a great screeching halt than when Jesus turned on him and said, “Get behind me, Satan!” which means adversary, opponent, saboteur, contradictor, dissident, tempter and blocker of God’s work. Are we thwarting God’s design or yielding to His plan? Are we goaded by the culture’s puppets or are we real, embracing the cross in love? Is the cross life’s great teacher or its enemy? What new life has the cross brought you? Jesus did not deny his Messianic vocation. Why should we?
