First Reading: Is 50:5-9a; Psalm: 116. R. v. 9; Second Reading: Jas 2:14-18; Gospel: Mk 8:27-35
LIVING THE COMMAND OF CHRIST
BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mk 8:34).
Growing up, the most industrious woman I had ever known is my mother. My mother is a seamstress by profession; a job I feel she enjoys doing until lately due to ageing. In her prime, her sewing job does not start and end at her workshop. It follows her home. Back at home, she has another sewing machine; and sometimes she works late into the night to meet the demands of her customers. But that’s not all to this amazing woman. Aside sewing, my mother does other side jobs as a supplementary source of income. I promise that I can’t recall almost every side job she did. But as far as I can remember, she made cakes, meat pies, egg rolls, plantain chips, chin chin (small crunchy deep-fried doughnuts), fried meats and chicken. She sold soft drinks, sachet water and many other local foods as the demand arises. My mother is a decent side hustler in every sense of the word. She did all these to support my father and to meet the demands of the family.
But another side to this story is that my mother did not enjoy doing all these side jobs because they were exhausting and burning. Yet she endured it all, just for the sake of the family and the good of her children. Making costly sacrifices for others even to the point of suffering is what Christ demands from us today.
The command of Christ in the gospel of today that to be his disciple, we must carry our cross and follow him is not only limited to enduring pain for the sake of the faith but also for the sake of others. Pain or suffering is not a good thing. And accepting it as a way of the faith is not an attempt to legitimise it especially when we can collectively make our world better through equity and charity. But since we are faced with the reality of suffering in our world today, we can make sacrifices and endure certain pains for the good and edification of others but not without any effort to mitigate suffering.
It is our dream to enjoy what we do. But the reality is that sometimes we find ourselves doing what we do not enjoy or making the choices we hate. This is not about doing or making sinful choices; but about making good choices that might not offer us the pleasure we desire just for the benefit of others. Ordinarily and humanly, Christ would hate to carry the cross; but for our sake, love compelled Christ to choose suffering over pleasure. The suffering Christ endured on the cross is redemptive. And this is the reason Christ didn’t budge in choosing this way. Such that when Peter yielded to the wiles of Satan and tried to dissuade him; Christ rebuked him vehemently. Our suffering and sacrifices for the sake of others must therefore mirror the redemptive suffering of Christ. The kind of suffering that edifies both the sufferer and those suffered for.
As a parent, sibling or friend, whatever good efforts we make that are exhaustive and burning or that we dislike; we must not give them up if they are done partly or completely for the good of our loved ones. That might just be our redemptive cross. There are experiences in life that might be a burden to us, but if well managed and endured would edify us and those around us. As parents, we may have an incorrigible son or daughter that consistently causes trouble time after time; but if we managed things well with tolerance, admonition and patience, they might just change, and we become models to emulate. So was Saint Monica to her son Saint Augustine.
We could also find ourselves in certain situations or condition that we cannot change, like suffering from a terminal illness. In times like this, the feelings we could readily have, are feelings of denial, sadness, anger, bitterness, disappointment and sometimes despair. But if we could accept our condition and offer our suffering up in union with the passion of Christ, we can atone for our sins and await a happy death rather than waste our suffering and die an embittered person. This is called redemptive suffering.
We may also find ourselves in places where injustice thrives and we hate to speak the truth for fear of antagonism; but if we endured that burden of identifying with the truth and speaking it anyway, we will be building a society where justice will reign.
We may not always enjoy what we do or the choices we make. But once we are doing it for the right reason, then it is worth doing. As James encourages in our second reading of today, faith is visible in doing the right works. Especially works of charity that will edify and improve the condition of our neighbours. So, as parents, never tire in making sacrifices for your children. And as Christian believers, if we must go the way of suffering to bring about the reign of God’s kingdom on earth; then we must say to that opposing voice “get behind me, Satan!” and do it anyway.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Lord Jesus, grant us the strength and courage to carry our cross daily to follow you. And help us to be disposed to offer up our sufferings in union with your passion on the cross for our salvation. Amen.
