Homily for Friday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Friday, February 21, 2025
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15; Mark 8:34—9:1
Today Jesus gives us a teaching whose intensity is mostly lost on us 2,000 years later. It provides clear instruction on what it really means to walk in his footsteps, to follow him.
First he says, “whoever wishes”, indicating that to be a Christian is not something that happens by default or by cultural heritage. It’s not enough to be a cradle Catholic. Being a Christian is not a birthright; rather it’s a personal decision that must be made with utmost sincerity and resolve—and with at least some understanding of the implications of this decision. The conditions for being a Christian that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel passage apply not only to some of his followers but to ALL of us, without exception.
“To follow” Jesus is a key term for discipleship. He tells us that the WAY to follow him is to deny ourselves and take up our cross. In effect he’s saying, “Don’t imagine that to follow me is merely to come along as a passive spectator to healings, miracles, and wise teachings.” To follow Jesus means to go where he goes and, as he has just made clear, his destination is the cross.
It is difficult for us today to understand the sense of horror that his reference to a cross would have had on his 1st century listeners. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, called crucifixion “the most wretched of deaths.” The condemned person was forced to carry the crossbeam to the site of execution, where it would be fastened to the upright beam. Then the victim would be either nailed or tied to the cross and left to die, which sometimes occurred only after days of torment, ending in suffocation. Jesus is telling us that to truly follow him necessarily means that we must be willing to take up and bear OUR cross.
He also tells us that we must DENY ourselves. He’s not talking about occasional acts of fasting or self-restraint. No, he’s telling us that we must follow him with reckless abandon, letting go of all of our attachments and agendas, even our hold on life itself. Mark’s first readers would have personally known fellow Christians who had been burned at the stake, thrown to wild animals, or crucified under the brutal persecution of Nero. Yes, being a 1st century disciple of Christ was dangerous and often involved forms of self-sacrifice that most of us today will never experience.
Yet how many Catholics today struggle with attending Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days of Obligation? “Oh, it’s just not convenient to go to Mass when I’m on vacation OR it’s so much easier just to watch online in my pajamas.” How many people try to squeak by doing the bare minimum the Church requires for salvation, rather than embracing Christ’s teachings WHOLE-HEARTEDLY and resolving to abandon themselves to him completely by denying ourselves daily and radically embracing his teachings?
And, how many of us consider our faith to be a PRIVATE matter and don’t share it with others for fear that we might offend them?
Dear friends in Christ, our allegiance must ALWAYS be to Christ, even if we lose the respect of family and friends when we speak THE truth to them. To be Jesus’ disciple means that we must not be afraid to confess our faith publicly and take a stand against the injustices we witness against the poor, the immigrant and the helpless.
We must speak out boldly against modern lifestyles and values that are contrary to God’s perfect law. This is what it means to love our neighbor. Loving our neighbor is not about just getting along with those who are gravely mistaken about God and his teachings. No! We must WILL THEIR GOOD by speaking the truth, in love, to them.
Listen to Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel with great attention: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” The path of discipleship is the path of self-sacrificing love, and that means the path of suffering with Christ.
So let’s ask ourselves today, do we wish to follow Christ…really follow him? Are we willing to pay the price for being his disciple? Our answer has eternal consequences. Ponder carefully Jesus’ promise in today’s gospel: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
God bless you.