Title: Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Author: LPI
Last saved by: Microsoft account

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Eyes of a Child

I frequently see signs on churches inviting everyone to come. Often they advertise that they are a contemporary, casual church. One thing that concerns me is that they do not add “challenging” to that description. Some people try to teach that since Jesus is risen from the dead, we should also be able to live that way: Rejoicing, but never sorrowing. But if we preach resurrection without the cross, we are acting like Peter in the Gospel.
Peter had just proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, but he failed to understand that Jesus’ mission was not to bring wealth and glory to Israel. Jesus knew that being messiah required him to give his life for all people. In a sense, Peter was tempting Jesus to avoid the painful death and use his divine power to bring prosperity. Like Satan’s temptations in the desert, he wanted Jesus to take the easy way to glory.
Instead, Jesus challenges us to deny ourselves. Today this phrase is not very popular with those who say we should be free to satisfy all our desires, or with motivational speakers who say that everyone is able to achieve financial success and live a comfortable life. As long as we center our lives on our own pleasure and comfort, we are rejecting the cross. To deny oneself means to choose God’s will over our own. It means to be willing to suffer for being honest. It means giving God the first place in our lives. It means we get more joy from serving others than serving ourselves. This is what Paul is talking about in the second reading when he says to offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice.” Or as Jesus says, we lose our life for his sake, only to find it in loving and serving him.
That is one reason I like the image of God as father. Parents will lose much of their freedom—and much sleep—when they bring a child into the world. But they find a new joy in the eyes of that child. We are all called to lose our selfish lives and find the joy of living for Jesus.
Tom Schmidt

Short Version

Christian churches sometimes advertise that they are a contemporary, casual church. One thing that concerns me is that they do not add “challenging” to that description. Some people try to teach that since Jesus is risen from the dead, we should also be able to live that way—rejoicing, but never sorrowing. But if we preach resurrection without the cross, we are acting like Peter in the Gospel.
Peter had just proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, but he failed to understand that Jesus’ mission was not to bring wealth and glory to Israel. Like Satan’s temptations in the desert, he wanted Jesus to take the easy way to glory.
Instead, Jesus challenges us to deny ourselves. As long as we center our lives on our own pleasure and comfort, we are rejecting the cross. To deny oneself means to choose God’s will over our own. It means to be willing to suffer for being honest. It means giving God the first place in our lives. It means we get more joy from serving others than serving ourselves.
That is one reason I like the image of God as father. Parents will lose much of their freedom—and much sleep—when they bring a child into the world. But they find a new joy in the eyes of that child. We are all called to lose our selfish lives and find the joy of living for Jesus.
Tom Schmidt