August 30, 2020: Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading: Matthew 16:21-27

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 Jesus 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 all according to his conduct.”

Reflection:

Jesus makes it abundantly clear that casting our lot with him, the prophet, will not be an easy trip.
As John Lewis said in his youth, and continued saying until his death, he caused trouble, “good trouble.” That is exactly the trouble that Jesus gets into in the Christian Scriptures. “Good trouble” that involved acting justly, granting mercy, and making love the foundation of his life. For this he paid with his life. Christians around the world are doing the same.

Action:

What “good trouble” am I willing to embrace this week so that justice prevails for all?