Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time/A
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Mt 16:21–27), Jesus rebukes Peter for his way of thinking. Peter does not “think according to God”: his vision of the world, his habitual choices, and the way he lives his relationships are still far removed from what Jesus Himself would do.
Jesus’ response is significant: ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου (hýpage opísō mou), literally, “go behind me”. Peter, who would almost presume to show Jesus the way, must return to his proper place: behind Him, in the place of the disciple. Immediately afterwards, Jesus adds: “If anyone wishes to come after me” — ὀπίσω μου (opísō mou) — “let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”.
This rebuke also calls us into question. More or less consciously, we often think that being Christian can be reduced to the observance of certain religious practices. Jesus, however, challenges us at the very heart of life: where we make our decisions, where we form our judgements, where we determine the direction of our future.
To believe in God is to “follow” Jesus. It is to enter into a dynamic process of change, in which we gradually learn to accept our life and our history, to “carry the cross”. To deny oneself does not mean to despise oneself, but rather to cease making oneself the ultimate criterion of everything. It means no longer expending our energies on appearing to be what we are not, and learning instead to live in truth.
Jesus continues: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The Greek term is ψυχή (psychḗ): it does not mean the soul alone, but the whole person. The question therefore becomes very concrete: what does it profit us to gain everything, to construct the image of ourselves that we desire, to obtain all that we pursue, if in the meantime we lose ourselves?
It is not an easy path. So often we are tempted to stop, to seek comfort and security. Yet the first reading (Jer 20:7–9) reminds us of a profound truth: “Within my heart there was something like a burning fire, shut up in my bones; I wearied myself trying to contain it, but I could not.”
Jeremiah would like to speak of God no more, to allow himself to be involved no further. Yet he discovers that this fire is now within him, and he cannot extinguish it. That fire is the tangible sign of the Lord’s love, which continues to reach the deepest part of us even when we are weary, when “we do not feel like it”, when we would rather withdraw. It is what prevents us from settling for a life that is not true. It is what, in the end, saves our life and gradually enables us to become the person we can and are called to be.
We must constantly return to our true place: behind Jesus. There, and there alone, the fire does not go out, and life becomes “life in abundance”.
The Communion antiphon for today’s celebration is taken from Chapter 16 of the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 16:24), with the following text:
Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum: et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me.
(Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me).
The accompanying music is taken from the Graduale Triplex, published at Solesmes in 1979. The performance is by the Coro Gregoriano de Lisboa, conducted by Maria Helena Pires de Matos. The recording can be found on the CD “Liturgias de Santos Europeus do 1º Milénio”, released by Universal Music Portugal, S.A. in 2005.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
