Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 16:21-27
IN THE SUMMER OF MY SECOND YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL I WAS GETTING ON MY MOTHER'S NERVES AND SHE ARRANGED FOR ME TO TAKE A COURSE IN TYPING. I FOUND MYSELF SITTING IN A CLASSROOM WITH YOUNG LADIES QUITE A BIT OLDER THAN I WHO WERE STUDYING TO BE SECRETARIES. AFTER EACH DRILL THE TEACHER WOULD LOOK AT OUR WORK AND RANK US ACCORDING TO SPEED AND ACCURACY. THIS NATURALLY STIMULATED MY COMPETITIVE SPIRIT, SO I WOULD PRACTICE AT HOME AND BY THE END OF THE COURSE I WAS THE TOP STUDENT. SINCE THEN I'VE BEEN ABLE TO TYPE LIKE CRAZY.
WHEN MY WIFE AND I GOT ENGAGED I WAS GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL IN CALIFORNIA AND SHE WAS TEACHING IN MARYLAND. WE WOULD WRITE LETTERS TO EACH OTHER. SOME OF YOU YOUNGER PEOPLE PROBABLY DON'T KNOW WHAT A LETTER IS. IT'S KIND OF LIKE A VERY SLOW FACEBOOK. I WOULD SIT DOWN AND TYPE OUT A LETTER IN A FEW MINUTES AND MY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTION TO OUR DIALOGUE WOULD BE DONE. EVENTUALLY JOAN ASKED ME TO WRITE THE LETTERS BY HAND. THIS SEEMED A STRANGE REQUEST, BUT I COMPLIED. NOW MY LETTERS TOOK A LOT LONGER TO WRITE. I HAD TO WORRY ABOUT LEGIBILITY AFTER ALL.
PETER AND THE APOSTLES HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING JESUS. SO FAR IT'S BEEN A BLAST. THEY'VE SEEN MIRACLES, AND THEY'VE WORKED A FEW THEMSELVES. THEY HAVE A SENSE OF BEING IN ON SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING THAT HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. LIFE WAS GOOD. AND THEN JESUS STARTS TALKING ABOUT HAVING TO GO TO JERUSALEM WHERE HE WILL BE KILLED. FOR PETER, THAT WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL, AND HE TELLS JESUS IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS. AND THEN JESUS SAYS, AND I AM USING A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TRANSLATION, “GET BACK IN LINE, YOU BLOCKHEAD! THE WAY YOU THINK IS NOT THE WAY GOD THINKS.”
WE CATHOLICS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO STILL GO TO CHURCH, PROBABLY DON'T THINK WE HAVE MUCH TO WORRY ABOUT. WE'RE PRETTY GOOD. WE PRAY NOW AND THEN, WE COME TO MASS ON SUNDAYS, WE DON'T COMMIT SERIOUS SINS. BUT WE PRACTICE OUR CATHOLICISM IN BETWEEN THE CHUNKS OF TIME WE DEVOTE TO THE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE: OUR JOBS, KEEPING UP THE HOUSE AND YARD, OUR GOLF GAME, HELPING OUR KIDS DO THEIR HOMEWORK – EVERY DAY SOMEHOW SEEMS TO GET FILLED UP BY STUFF WE CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER THE NEXT DAY. AND ONE DAY FADES INTO THE NEXT, AND NEXT YEAR ISN'T ANY DIFFERENT THAN LAST YEAR.
KEEPING OUT OF TROUBLE, AVOIDING SERIOUS SIN – THAT'S ALL GOOD. BUT THAT'S BARELY SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A CATHOLIC – AND THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS CHURCH WHO IS NOT STILL IN THAT BECOMING STAGE. JESUS, AFTER ALL WANTS TO SEE THAT WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, AND THAT SERIOUSNESS IS CERTAINLY CLEAR WHEN JESUS TELLS PETER TO PUT HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS – IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM IT HAS TO BE ALL THE WAY. YOU CAN'T FOLLOW HIM IF IT IS ONLY IN THOSE FEW MOMENTS SNATCHED FROM YOUR DAY AT YOUR CONVENIENCE.
JESUS TELLS US THAT THERE ARE THREE CONDITIONS TO BE MET IF YOU ARE TO FOLLOW HIM. FIRST, YOU HAVE TO LET HIM LEAD – NO SUGGESTIONS, NO ARGUMENT, NO ADVICE. GET BEHIND HIM. SECOND, YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR WHOLE SELF INTO IT. YOU CAN ONLY SAVE YOUR LIFE IF YOU LOSE IT, BECAUSE IF YOU HOLD ANYTHING BACK, IF YOU TRY TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, IT WON'T WORK. AND FINALLY, YOU NEED TO TAKE UP YOUR CROSS. THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT IN TRYING TO BE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS. YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO ACCEPT PERSECUTION BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE. YOU HAVE TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU BELIEVE SO THAT YOU CAN DEFEND IT AND EXPLAIN IT. YOU HAVE TO DEVELOP A PRAYER LIFE, A LIFE OF REFLECTION, A LIFE OF WORKING TO ELIMINATE FAULTS AND STRENGTHEN VIRTUES. SOMETIMES THAT MEANS YOU NEED SPIRITUAL DIRECTION, BECAUSE WE CAN'T DO IT ALONE. THE APOSTLES NEEDED GUIDANCE BY JESUS BEFORE THEY COULD GO OUT AND FOLLOW HIM AFTER THE RESURRECTION; ARE WE BETTER PREPARED THAN THEY ARE? YOU NEED TO RECOGNIZE YOURSELF AS A SINNER, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE HARD TO DO, THEY INVOLVE CHANGING OUR HABITS, DOING THINGS WE'D RATHER NOT DO. AND WE WILL NEVER GET ALL THE WAY TO WHERE WE WANT TO GO IN THIS LIFE, BECAUSE THE MORE WE LEARN, THE MORE WE TAKE UP THE CROSS, THE MORE WE SEE HOW FAR WE HAVE YET TO GO.
I DON'T THINK JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT SALVATION HERE, HEAVEN OR HELL. I THINK INSTEAD HE IS INVITING THOSE HE LOVES TO ENTER MORE FULLY INTO HIS OWN LIFE AND HIS OWN MISSION. GOD, AFTER ALL, DOESN'T MAKE US SO THAT WE CAN FULFILL OUR WHIMS AND HAVE A LIFE OF PLEASURE. HE MAKES US SO THAT WE CAN ENTER INTO THE LIFE OF THE TRINITY. JESUS SHOWS US THE WAY AND INVITES US TO FOLLOW HIM.
SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MY LOVE LETTERS TO MY WIFE TO BE? I DON'T THINK OUR RELATIONSHIP WOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED HAD I CONTINUED TO TYPE MY LETTERS TO HER. I'M SURE SHE COULD HAVE READ THEM A LOT EASIER AND FASTER. BUT SHE ASKED ME TO DO IT HER WAY, TO MAKE A LITTLE SACRIFICE, TO GIVE UP SOMETHING THAT CAME NATURALLY TO ME. AND SINCE I LOVED HER, I DID. SOMEWHERE IN OUR HOUSE SHE STILL HAS THOSE LETTERS, SCRAWLED IN THE NEARLY ILLEGIBLE HANDWRITING OF A BUDDING DOCTOR, BUT MAYBE TOUCHED WITH A LITTLE EXTRA LOVE THAT DIDN'T GET INTO THE LETTERS THAT I TYPED.
AND THAT'S THE SAME THING THAT'S GOING ON IN THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE. JESUS IS SAYING, IN EFFECT, IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL FOLLOW ME COMPLETELY, YOU WILL PUT ME BEFORE YOURSELF, YOU WILL MAKE THOSE PAINFUL CHANGES IN YOUR OWN LIFE – IN SHORT, I WILL COME FIRST IN YOUR LIFE. AND IF YOU DON'T, WELL, I'LL STILL LOVE YOU, BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE AS HAPPY AS THE FATHER WANTS YOU TO BE, YOU WILL NEVER FULFILL THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH YOU WERE CREATED. BUT THE PROMISE IS THIS: IF YOU GIVE ME YOUR LIFE, YOUR REWARD WILL BE GREAT.
YOU AND I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER. WE NEED TO RESPOND TO JESUS, WE NEED TO APPROACH OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE LIKE WE DO OTHER THINGS IN OUR LIFE. WE NEED TO DEVELOP A PLAN, GET THE HELP WE NEED, SET ASIDE THE TIME WE NEED, AND EVERY NOW AND THEN REVIEW WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE ARE GOING. BECAUSE NOTHING WE EVER WILL DO ON THIS EARTH IS MORE IMPORTANT.
THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR JESUS IS REFLECTED IN WHAT YOU ARE WILLING TO DO FOR HIM.