“Take up your cross and follow me.” (Mt 16: 21-27)
The liturgy of this Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time invites us to reflect on what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus. Following Christ is not simply about believing in Him or walking with Him when life is easy. It means trusting Him even when we do not understand His plan, surrendering ourselves to His will, and remaining faithful when the path leads through the cross.
In the first reading, Jeremiah experiences the pain of being faithful to God. He feels rejected and ridiculed and even thinks of giving up his prophetic mission. Yet he cannot remain silent because God’s word has become “like a fire burning in my heart.” His experience reminds us that faithfulness does not mean that we will never become tired or discouraged. There may be moments when we want to stop, but God’s call continues to burn within us and gives us the strength to persevere.
In the second reading, St. Paul invites us to “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” To follow Jesus means offering our whole lives to Him—our joys, struggles, work, relationships, and sacrifices. It also means allowing God to renew our minds so that we learn to seek not only what we desire, but what He desires for us.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and rise again. Peter finds this difficult to accept. He loves Jesus, but he cannot understand that God’s plan is different from human expectations. Jesus therefore reminds him: “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Peter’s reaction can also be ours. Like him, we may want to follow Jesus according to our own plans: a life without too many difficulties, a vocation without struggles, a community without misunderstandings, or a mission without sacrifice. But Jesus reminds us that discipleship involves surrender: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
The way of the cross is not an obstacle to Jesus’ mission; it is the path through which He faithfully fulfills the Father’s will. Peter, moved by his love for Jesus but still thinking according to human expectations, unintentionally becomes an obstacle to that mission. Jesus’ strong words remind us that following Him requires us to let go of our own way of thinking and learn to trust God’s wisdom.
This Gospel therefore invites us to ask ourselves: Do we allow God’s plan to guide our lives, or do we sometimes want Him to follow our plans? Are we willing to surrender our desires, expectations, and personal projects to Him?
For us as consecrated persons, these questions become very concrete. How do we follow Jesus in our daily prayer, community life, consecration, and apostolic mission? Are we willing to accept the small crosses of everyday life—with patience, forgiveness, humility, and love? Our vocation is lived not only through great sacrifices, but also through the small acts of daily fidelity.
May we have the courage to say “yes” to God’s will each day, entrusting our plans, fears, struggles, and expectations to Him. May we faithfully take up our cross, follow Jesus, and trust that His way, even when difficult, leads us to true life.
Sr. Maria Tran Thi Hong Thach OP
Province of St. Raymond of Peñafort
