24th Sunday of the Year

As we listen to the gospels and ponder the interaction between Jesus and those he has chosen to follow him, the term “school of discipleship” springs to mind. The apostles and disciples finds themselves constantly on a steep learning curve, as evidenced by the behaviour and reaction of Peter in today’s gospel passage. To form part of the company of Jesus entailed accepting his outlook and values, standards which were often in stark contrast to what were considered normal ways of thinking and behaving, what we call ‘The ways of the world.’ Peter, we discover, was taught a sharp lesson by Jesus when he protested about the possibility of his master having to suffer. The apostle had still much to learn about Jesus and the place of the cross in his life, despite his faith in him as God’s Messiah.
The Lord Jesus was ever conscious of his Father’s will, sketched out for him in the writings of the Old Testament. Central to God’s will was the mysterious fact that his Christ should have to suffer. The picture of Isaiah’s suffering servant in our first reading foreshadows what lay in store for the God’s anointed one. Jesus would know humiliation and mistreatment, but his trust in God his Father would be unflinching.
Peter and the other disciples would have to learn that suffering and misfortune were not the last word in the lives of human beings. As became brilliantly clear in the resurrection on Easter Day, God put to right the wrongs and injustices inflicted on his Son and by doing so gave a sure hope to the whole human race. The confidence of Jesus in the goodness and loving purpose of his Father was not misplaced. We are called to imitate Jesus, the pioneer of our faith.
The widespread presence of suffering and distress in our world can induce in us a sense of helplessness and profound heartsearching.
This suffering can be personal, what we see in others around us, or that we are made aware of in distant places through the mass media. Our faith teaches us that our fallen human condition is heir to this often sad state of affairs. Yet the rhythm of today’s gospel is that of death and resurrection, losing one’s life so as to find it, and the firm conviction that Jesus Christ sheds the light of God on the puzzles and darkness which we experience as human beings. The apostle James insists on the need to express our faith in good works, and so improve the world in which we find ourselves. Yet in our struggles and frequent setbacks we need to remember that only in the world to come will suffering and death finally be overcome. Here on earth we live in hope of that.

+Michael Campbell OSA
Bishop of Lancaster