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Nobody Wants to Be a Disciple Some months ago I arrived in Ozamis City at about three in the afternoon and proceeded to the shipping office to get my ticket for Cebu that night. It was a very hot afternoon with the sun slanting in from the southwest. As there were many travelers, there was a long slow queue outside the office. I was perspiring profusely as I waited. Then I began to think of what Jesus meant when he said, "blessed are the poor, they shall see God" and "unless you become as little children you will not enter the kingdom of God." It is the poor and children that wait in queues. Others try to exempt themselves from these things. It is ironic that we who are called to be professional followers of Christ - priests and religious - are often treated as a privileged class and given preferential treatment. We tend to become an elite class. We want to become masters without becoming disciples. I decided that it was a blessing in disguise that I had found myself perspiring in this queue with the poor on whose side I professed to be. I could do theology on my feet as the modern jargon says. Eventually,
I got inside the door and to my delight and horror I heard a voice from
behind the counter, "Fr. Gerry - let me get you your ticket."
That former student of mine offered me the very preferential treatment
I had decided I should avoid if I was to follow Christ - and how I liked
the offer! The
expectation of exemption is one of the most deep-rooted misconceptions
about religion. Deep down most people think - neurotically, of course
- that to be religious is to become exempt from the ordinary sufferings
of life. Because they are prayerful they think God owes it to them to
smooth the way for them. They think that they can become a master without
being a disciple. When they do this they are misreading the constantly
repeated message of scripture. The sin of Adam and Eve was that they
ate the fruit of the tree because "they wanted to be like God."
Basically their sin was rejection of creature hood and the pain that
it entails. In
the Gospel reading today we see this struggle taking place in the apostle
Peter. Jesus gave the disciples a sort of mid-term exam. He asked them,
"Who do people say that I am?" He was interested in the signs
of the times, what people in general were thinking. Then he narrowed
the question down and asked, "but you, who do you say that I am?"
Peter answered in a moment of brilliance, "you are the Christ of
God." In Matthew's account we are told that Jesus gave Peter high
praise and immediate promotion on account of this answer. "Blest
are you, Simon son of Jonah! No mere man has revealed this to you but
my heavenly Father. I for my part declare to you, you are the 'rock,'
and on this rock I will build my church, and the jaws of death shall
not prevail against it. I entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven." Before
Peter can exult in his promotion Jesus brings a new ingredient into
the story: "if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce
himself and take up his cross every day and follow me." He then
told them about going to Jerusalem where he would suffer. At this Peter
remonstrated, "God forbid that such a thing ever happen to you."
Then Jesus turned on Peter and said, "get behind me, Satan, you
are not judging by God's standards but by human ones." These, probably
the hardest words in the whole Gospel, were addressed to Peter when
he wanted to be exempt from the human lot of suffering. He wanted to
be a master without being a disciple. "Leave self behind and follow me." These words so often quoted by John Main in his teaching about meditation, are the key to Christian life. We meditate precisely to leave self - the ego - behind and to be open to God and the variety of ways in which he reveals himself to us. Suffering was part of the lot of Jesus. To follow him we must be willing to carry the cross. The strange thing is that when we stop seeking exemption from suffering, the suffering becomes easier to bear!
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“The best word I can find to describe this book is integration. In these reflections on the gospel readings for year A, B, and C of the liturgical cycle, Fr. Pierse integrates the richness of the word of God with experiences and stories from life in the community. He shows how through silence, the word can bear fruit in service and sacrament.” (R. J. Cardinal Vidal) How to order this book ---> Ordering Information |
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