It is Divine to suffer out of love for others | PadreCast Twenty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time

The Cross of Christ is redemption. The Cross of Christ is perfect justice and perfect love. There is nothing more divine than the Cross of Christ. Therefore to reject it must be the opposite of God. And Jesus challenges each one of us in the Gospel today. He says not only can you not reject My Cross, but if you deny your own crosses, if you deny your own sufferings, you can't be My disciple. You can't follow Me. You can't hear Me.

And this is the number one challenge for all believers isn't it? It's not just accepting the fact that Christ died for us. That He redeemed us. But it's that we too must share in His Cross through our daily sufferings. In some way, we act satanically, we act like Satan, when we reject the daily crosses that Christ sends us.

When Lucifer rejected the plan of God, he said, "Non serviam", I will not serve. I will not serve the Lord. ... He refused to humble himself before God and accept his role in God's plan.

Ultimately, that's what rejecting the cross means. "I will not serve. I won't suffer in this way." I want each of you just to think about those relationships in your life - and they're always close to home - in which you have said to yourself in some way, "I will not serve. I will not suffer for this person." ... That's satanic. It's a denial of your cross which God has chosen for you.

 

Jer 20:79; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27

 

You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 13:50