Take up your cross
22nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. [Tertullian]
Peter, the chief apostle, died for his faith in Jesus Christ. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified on an upside-down cross. Since the beginning of Christianity, many in the early Church were also martyred for Christ and for the Christian faith. In Feb 2015, the Islamic State terrorists posted a gruesome video headlined, “A message signed with blood to the nation of the Cross.” In the video recording, 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded because they would not renounce their faith in Jesus Christ – their last words were, “O, my Lord Jesus.”
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| The 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by the IS terrorists. |
Christianity is the MOST PERSECUTED religion in the world.
Up till this very day, Christianity is the still the most persecuted religion in the world: in the secular West, in the Holy Land, in the Middle East, in China, in Hong Kong, in South East Asia, and even in our own home country. As reported by BBC on 3 May 2019: “The persecution of Christians in parts of the world is at near ‘GENOCIDE’ levels!” Many Christians shed their blood and give up their lives; others suffer persecution, marginalization, ridicule and mockery, unjust treatment, forced conversion, harassment and imprisonment, and even planned and systematic expulsion.
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| Fr Andrew Kim and the Korean martyrs. |
At the individual level, we as ordinary Christians also struggle to live out of our Christian faith:
1) A hospitality minister continues to love and serve despite being harassed and intimidated by rude and rowdy parishioners every single week.
2) A catechist sacrifices his or her time every Sunday for the sake of the Gospel.
3) A young engineer is marginalized because he refuses to take part in the office political game.
4) A single mother is desperately trying to earn money to support her family every day. No matter how exhausted and overwhelmed she is, she has to juggle between work and family.
5) A young man clings onto Jesus Christ despite being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.
Those who ridicule us say, “Where is your God?” [Ps 42: 3] Yes, where is God in the midst of all these? What is the point of being Christian, a follower of Christ? Why the pain and suffering? And in our distress, we call out helplessly to the Lord, “Master, do you not care that we are perishing?” [Mk 4: 38]
The cost of discipleship... and its reward.
In the Gospel reading this Sunday, Jesus tells us that, “If anyone wants to be a follower of Mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Our Lord and Master has not promised us a bed of roses, but He has promised that He will not forsake us: “I am with you always; yes, until the end of time.” [Mt 28:20]
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| Christ goes before us. He walks with us. |
Yes, the trials, temptations, tribulations and turbulences we have been going through, as individuals and as Church, is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. To many, the Cross is a sign of stupidity, shame, suffering and sacrifice. To those who believe, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the sign of love, life, light, liberation, power and victory.
Our God is not a sadist. Our God does not delight in our pain and suffering. In fact, our Lord and Master Jesus Christ Himself has paved the way for us, setting a perfect example for us to follow. Jesus knows and understands because He has been through the worst of it.
Look to the CROSS, our HOPE is there! [Pope Francis, 5 Apr 2023]
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| Jesus Christ our HOPE. |
The Cross of Jesus Christ is redemptive and transformative. Without the pain and suffering of the Cross, there is no glory of the Resurrection. If we do not die with Him, we cannot rise with Him. Through the Cross, we are saved. Through the Cross, we rise, we grow and we mature – we become stronger, wiser, humbler and holier.
St Paul [1 Co 1: 17-25] assures us that:
“The language of the Cross
may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation,
but to those of us who are on the way (to salvation) see it as God’s power to save.
Here we are preaching a crucified Christ;
to the Jews an obstacle…
to the pagans madness…
to those who have been called, a Christ who is the power and wisdom of God…”
Let our fervent prayer be:
“Lord Jesus Christ, may we always glory in Your Cross!”
Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Malaysia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.
[Note: This Gospel reflection was adapted from Porta Fidei, Gospel Reflection, 30 Aug 2020.]
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