by Fr. Tommy Lane
Those are challenging words
of Jesus:
Whoever wishes to come
after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and
follow me. (Mark 8:34)
They are not our
favorite words in the Gospel, and we would prefer not to hear them.
They speak to us about suffering. When suffering comes our way, over
which we have no choice, we often refer to it as a cross. There is
another cross, suffering for witnessing to Jesus: Jesus said,
“whoever wishes to come after me . . . must take up his cross
. . . whoever loses his life for my sake . . . will save it.”
So, apart from the sufferings that come to us over which we have no
choice, there can sometimes be a cross for following Jesus, losing
our life for his sake.
When we have a cross
because of witnessing to Jesus, we do not carry that cross alone.
Jesus is with us. On another occasion, Jesus said, “Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and
you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden light.” (Matt 11:29-30) Jesus certainly knew all about yokes.
As a carpenter, he must have been asked from time to time to make a
wooden yoke for farmers so that two oxen together could pull a
plough or some other farm implement. The yoke was the wooden
crossbeam that joined the two animals at the neck and that crossbeam
dragged the farm implement behind. Since animals are different
sizes, it was common to have a yoke cut to measure for the animals
pulling it. Otherwise it would not fit the animal correctly and
cause considerable discomfort. As a carpenter, Jesus most likely cut
many such yokes. When Jesus says to carry our cross after him,
perhaps you could even see Jesus as the other one pulling the yoke
with you—Jesus helping you carry your burdens and crosses: “Take my
yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden light.” (Matt 11:29-30)
Of course no one wants a
cross and we would prefer to avoid it. These are words of Pope
Francis about the temptation to avoid the cross:
There is a permanent
temptation for the Church:
to put aside the cross
(cf. Mt 16:22),
to negotiate with the
truth,
to avoid persecution,
thus diminishing the
redemptive power of the cross of Christ. (A Year
with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections from His Writings p233)
These are Pope
Francis’ words for the Church, but they could apply just as easily
to anyone of us. Sometimes it might be easier to water down the
truth to avoid some kind of persecution. In a school far away from
here, someone said during a meeting: “You should be honest in your
advertising and say ‘This is a school where you will find
watered-down Catholic teaching. This is a school where you will find
watered-down Catholic ethos.’” Naturally that provoked a discussion
and that led to strengthening of the Catholic identity in that
school. Catholic institutions providing healthcare also face
decisions. Some more words of Pope Francis come to mind:
When we journey
without the cross,
when we build without
the cross,
when we profess Christ
without the cross,
we are not disciples
of the Lord, we are worldly;
we may be bishops,
priests, cardinals, popes,
but not disciples of
the Lord (A Year with Pope Francis: Daily
Reflections from His Writings p125)
When Jesus says to
carry our cross after him, I would like to imagine that Jesus is the
other one pulling the yoke with us. We are yoked to Jesus and
together, we and Jesus, carry our cross.
Carrying a cross together
reminds me of Simon of Cyrene. It is surely a great act of mercy
when we can assist someone carrying a cross. Very often it may
involve just listening because a trouble shared is half a trouble.
Listening is precisely that: listening, and comforting as necessary.
As Jesus carried his cross
to Calvary, we honor him falling three times in our Stations of the
Cross and getting up again afterwards. Although these were physical
falls under the weight of a heavy cross, we see Jesus rising again
as encouragement to us to get up again when we fall carrying
whatever cross we may have. Encouragement from the French
contemporary spiritual writer Jacques Philippe is once again
helpful:
God, once we return to
Him with a contrite heart, is able to cause good to spring forth, if
only to make us to grow in humility and to teach us to have a little
less confidence in our own strength and a little more in Him alone.
. . Accordingly, after committing a fault of whatever kind, rather
than withdrawing into ourselves indefinitely in discouragement and
dwelling on the memory, we must immediately return to God with
confidence and even thank Him for the good that His mercy will be
able to draw out of this fault! (Searching for and Maintaining
Peace p64)
Jesus said to take up our
cross after him. I think Jesus would want us to see him on the other
side of the yoke carrying the cross with us.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Year B
Offering our sufferings to Jesus and Mary 2021
Jesus took our sins on himself 2018
Professing our faith by how we live 2012
Do we live the faith we profess or run from the cross? 2006
Taking up our cross after Jesus
Related: Homilies on carrying our cross stories about our cross
Second Reading: faith and works Saved by Jesus and doing the will of the Father 2008