In the gospel, Jesus is identified as the Messiah.  Even though His journey to Jerusalem will lead Him to suffering and death, and even though Peter tries to talk Him out of going there, Jesus refuses to turn back and resolves to go through with the Father’s plan.  Jesus can already see before Him the cross on Calvary, and yet He will not let Himself quit His messianic task.

To be a disciple of Jesus means that we can not allow ourselves to quit whenever some cross confronts us.  Instead we have to take up that cross and resolutely follow in the steps of Jesus.

Whether our cross is unfair treatment of others, loneliness or discouragement, or whether it is the loss of our health, our job or someone we love, if we are truly Christian, then we cannot allow ourselves to quit carrying the cross.

Instead, we have to believe that God is near to uphold us and is indeed our help.  We need to believe that with Him, we will not only survive, but we will also overcome and triumph.  We have the Lord’s promise that even though we may lose something—perhaps even our life—in the end we will save it, provided we are faithful and don’t give up.

This is the Christian message.  This is what we are called to believe.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell