Today’s gospel is the continuation of what we read last week. Last week, when Jesus asked His apostles who do they that He is ? Peter gave the right answer when he said that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus praise Peter for discovering that. Today’s gospel is the continuation of what we read last week. In fact, Jesus explained his apostles what means to be Messiah. That the Messiah should suffer, be crucified, died … When Peter heard that he reacted against. He did not accept, he could not understand that the suffering, the cross is the way of salvation. He could not understand that be being Messiah means to sacrifice himself for the sake of the good news. That is why Jesus took this opportunity to talk to him and other disciples about the requirements to be his disciple and said to them that they should deny themselves, take up their cross and follow his example. He did not only tell them but He gave them the example by life, death, crucifixion and resurrection. Now, what does it mean to me to deny myself for the sake of the good news ? In what ways do I see my self carrying the cross and being willing to commit my life to the cause of Jesus ? Can other people see who is Jesus by the way I treat them ? How can I better reflect Jesus in my actions ? We live in materialistic and individual world. And the standard is my comfort, my privilege and my pleasure. We often hear people say : It is my money, my car, my car. I deserve what I have because I work hard. I worked twelve hours a day. It is my time, my treasure. It is for me and for my family. To deny ourselves means to detach ourselves from what we are and what we have in order to put the needs of others first. It means to detach yourself from your ideas, from your security, from your comfort, from your interest, from your pleasure in order to put the needs of others first. It means to give up our tendency to dominate and to impose our ideas and opinions to others. It means to give our tendency to be in control of everything. It means to give up our tendency to be the center of the attention. But Jesus says that being a Christian it is not just prayer or keeping the commandments of God, it is to be concerned more about the needs of others. You must be concerned about the people who need your help, people who need your service, people who need your generosity and compassion. What are you going to give up or to be detached in order to put the needs of others first?
