Twenty-fourth Sunday in OT ‘B’

The main theme of today’s readings is an invitation to us to become humble. Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our Faith as acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Finally, it outlines the three conditions of Christian discipleship, namely, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus.

Jesus saw aspects of His own life and mission foreshadowed in Isaiah’s Servant Songs. That is why a large portion of one of these is presented as the First Reading today. Like the servant described in today’s First Reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah.

The Psalmist invites us to turn to the Lord for help amidst the trials of this world. It is in God that we will find deliverance from trouble and relief from our afflictions (Ps 116).

Today’s Second Reading, taken from the Second Letter of St. James to the Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James explains how our Faith in Jesus, the Messiah, should help us to alleviate the sufferings of others by our works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual.

In the Gospel, in response to Peter’s profession of Faith in him as the Messiah and Savior, Jesus foretells for the first of three times His passion, death and Resurrection.
Today’s Gospel gives us:

• the Messianic confession of Peter, who acknowledged Jesus as “the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God”
• and Jesus’ prediction of His passion, death and Resurrection, followed by His teaching on the three conditions of Christian discipleship: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

Jesus wants to become a living, present reality for us, loving us, forgiving us, helping us, transforming our lives and outlook and building a personal relationship with us. The knowledge of Jesus as Lord and Savior needs to become a living, personal experience for each Christian drawing each of us to response. The relationship deepens and grows as we listen to Him through the meditative reading of the Bible, speak to Him in our daily prayers, offer Him our lives on the altar in the Holy Mass and get reconciled with Him, asking His forgiveness every night and in the Sacrament of Confession.

In the Eucharistic celebration today, we are celebrating and experiencing the death and Resurrection of Christ, the Messiah, our Lord and Savior. We need to surrender our life to Jesus.

The next step is to humbly and lovingly serve others knowing that Jesus is present in every person.

The final step is to praise and thank God in all the events of our lives, good and bad, realizing that God’s love shapes every event.