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22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

 甘天霖神父

Gospel: Matthew 16:21-27

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Then 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 everyone according to his conduct.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily: OFFER LIFE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE IT

the apostles were convinced that the kingdom of God was imminent. But they believed in an earthly kingdom. They realized that their master was the Christ, the long-awaited "Son of David.” They had followed him to see their dreams of glory fulfilled. The only question which, according to them, was still pending was to determine who would be entitled to the first places (Mk 9:34).
It is in the context of these expectations that the first of the three announcements of the Passion, found in the Gospel, is placed. He does not want them to follow him lolling in vain illusions. To avoid any ambiguity, he openly declares that he is not walking towards triumph, but he is going to Jerusalem to suffer a lot, to be killed, and be raised again on the third day.

The disciples cannot understand; they have learned from the scribes that the Messiah cannot die. Peter, in the name of all, reacts. He is not willing to commit himself to an absurd project. Peter takes the Master apart, and questions the Master’s intent. Jesus is almost irritated: "Get behind me, Satan." "Get behind me”—he says—“Follow my steps, do not try to go before me, as one who claims to lead the way.” This plan is drawn by the Father and Peter makes a proposal that comes from worldly wisdom, from human foolishness that is senseless in God's eyes.

Peter is acting just like Satan who tried to convince Jesus to focus on dominion, on the conquest of power—a typical strategy of Satan that he had faced earlier (Mt 4:8-10). Now, the same temptation advanced by Peter cannot but be responded with the same hardness, “Off you Satan!” Simon had professed his faith in the Son of the living God. Now, he becomes a stumbling block because he lets himself be guided by human reasoning.

After having rebuked Peter, Jesus turns to all and unequivocally puts forward his demands. There is no attempt to mitigate them, to make them more acceptable. Three imperatives characterize the radicalism of a choice that does not admit delays nor second thoughts: "Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me." 

Deny yourself means you stop thinking about yourself. It is the rejection of the pursuit of one’s own interest, the will to achieve gratification, acknowledgements and benefits. Even in the most pure acts of love, there is often some veiled forms of selfishness and ambition. 

The second imperative, take up your cross, does not refer to the need to patiently endure the small or big tribulations of life, even less, the exaltation of pain as a means to please God. The cross is the sign of love and of total gift. To carry it after Christ means to follow the way he has trodden: to offer one’s life for his same ideals, confront even death, if needed.

The third imperative, follow me, is to take part in the project of Christ, bet your life on love with him.

证道：献出生命就是获得生命，与耶稣一起赌“爱”必胜！

门徒们坚信：天主的国是即将来临的。不过，他们相信的是一个世上的王国。他们意识到他们的主是基督（默西亚），就是以色列人长久期待的“达味之子”。他们跟随祂，看到了他们的光荣梦想而心满意足。依据他们的想法，唯一的问题是谁有资格做第一把交椅仍未确定（谷9：34）。

正是在这些期待的背景下，福音中发现的三次苦难宣告被首次放到此处。耶稣并不想让门徒们懒洋洋地躺在徒劳的幻想中来跟随祂。为避免任何的模棱两可，耶稣公开宣称：祂不是要走向重大的胜利，而是走向耶路撒冷遭受巨大的苦难，被杀害，并在第三天复活。

门徒们无法明白，需要从经师才得知：默西亚不会死。伯多禄以所有人的名义作出了回应。他无意使自己投身于一项荒谬的计划。伯多禄把主拉到一边，并质问主的意图。耶稣几乎被激怒了说：“撒殚，退到后面去。”祂说“退到我后面去”，“跟随我的脚步，不要尝试走在我前面，作为主张领路的人。”这个计划是天父所拟定的，而伯多禄提出了一个来自世上智慧和人性愚笨的建议，在天主眼中却是愚蠢的。

伯多禄的行动如同撒殚，试图说服耶稣专注于权力征服的统治。这是撒殚典型的策略，耶稣早就领教过了（玛4：8-10）。如今，伯多禄提出了同样的诱惑，耶稣不能不以同样的强硬来回应：“滚开，撒殚！”西满在永生天主子前宣告了他的信德，现在他又成了绊脚石，因为他让自己被人的理性推理所指引。

在谴责了伯多禄之后，耶稣转向所有人，并毫不含糊地提出了祂的要求。没有为了让门徒们更容易接受而试图缓和要求。选择的激进性有三个必要的特征，既不允许延迟，也不许可重新考虑：“弃绝自己，背起自己的十字架，跟随我。”

弃绝你自己意思是你停止考虑你自己。这是对追求自身兴趣和利益，意愿获得满足、承认和好处的厌弃。即使在爱的最纯粹行动中，通常也会有一些隐秘形式的自私和追求。

第二个必要的是背起你自己的十字架，不是指需要耐心地忍受生活中大大小小，甚至微不足道的磨难，更不是指把升华痛苦作为取悦天主的方法。十字架是爱的标记，也是完全的恩赐。背负十字架跟随基督意思是跟随祂曾走过的路：为与耶稣一样的理想奉献个人的生命，如果需要的话，甚至面对死亡。

第三个必要的是跟随我，就是参与基督的计划，把你的生命与祂一起下注在爱中。

文本来源：雅颂福传
译者：Fr.James Gao