Celebración de la palabra

Friday August 9

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

Introduction

Today’s passage of the Book of Deuteronomy sums up the meaning and theology of the whole book: Israel is the chosen people of God, as its past experience clearly manifests: the exodus and liberation, God’s theophany on Sinai and the covenant, the journey to the Promised Land. God is a faithful, loving God. And so Israel owes God a response of faithful love.
In the gospel Jesus presents the Christian life by means of three equivalent expressions. It means: to renounce oneself – that is, to accept God’s way of thinking and acting rather than one’s own; to take up the cross – that is, to take the risk of undergoing the fate of the Master and give up personal security; and to follow Jesus – that is, to accept the guidance of Jesus, his gospel, not only in theory but also in practice. Are we ready to do this? Is this what the Christian life means for us?

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we know that following your Son means
to let someone else lead us
where perhaps we were not intending to go.
But it is your Son who leads us and goes with us.
And so we say: We are willing to go with him,
but help us, Lord, when our hearts grow faint,
that we may keep going with him
who is our Lord for ever.

Reading 1: Dt 4:32-40

Moses said to the people:
"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire,
and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

R. (12a) I remember the deeds of the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
among the peoples you have made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.

Alleluia: Mt 5:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Mt 16:24-28

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Intercessions

– Lord Jesus, for those who follow you on the way to the cross as they are persecuted for believing in you, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, for those who follow you on the way of the cross as they renounce themselves to dedicate themselves to take care of lonely and sick people, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, for those who bear their sufferings in patience with you, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Bread and wine,
Lord our God,
are our strength and joy on the road of life.
Let your Son break for us the better bread
and pour for us the better wine of himself,
that keep us going, and when needed,
even climbing the mountain of suffering
and of apparent defeat.
For we trust in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
you know how much we are afraid
of taking risks and committing ourselves
to the new and the unknown.
But you beckon us through your Son
and you let him be our strength.
And so we pray you:
Keep calling us out of our enclosures
and give us the courage to go all the way
to you and to one another
without fear or compromise.
Let the gospel of Jesus
become good news of happiness and joy
to fill our lives for ever and ever.

Blessing

“Take up your cross and follow me.” We must take up the cross demanded by faithfulness to the gospel, our Christian community, our family, our task in life, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Commentary

The exhortations to love and adore Yahweh in the Book of Deuteronomy are both stirring and filled with a lyric quality. Indeed, what people had ever heard the voice of their god? Our God is one who has drawn near to us, lifted us out of bondage, and brought us to the land he promised. Deuteronomy is strong on motivation. In view of God’s goodness, he must be our only God, and his commandments and statutes must be observed.
Matthew today transposes the discussion to another level. In the Christian life, there is no glory without the cross; there is no life without a death. Who of us can deny that the self is always standing in the way of good intention? We tend to want to satisfy our desires and give them priority, but it cannot be that way. We are continually faced with human need, with coming to the aid of another. The Christian must stand ready at every turn to die to personal interest and generously give of self to God and others.
The return of Christ in glory will be the time of retribution. Verse 28 cannot refer to the evangelist’s contemporaries; it most likely refers to the inauguration of the kingdom with Christ’s death and resurrection. But the injunction is clear enough. There is no easy way to glory, even though it may be accomplished joyfully and willingly Our life is a challenge—let us embrace it.

Points to Ponder

God’s initiative on our behalf
Examples of dying to self
Ways in which we gain a life.