22nd Sunday - Fr. Leo
The Gospel this morning reminds us that to follow Christ, we must pick up our crosses and carry them. If we are to share in Christ’s resurrection, we must also share in his crucifixion. This may sound forbidding, but when we share Christ passion for God’s truth and love, we embrace our hardships in love.
The prophet Jeremiah is a perfect example. He is doing God’s work, preaching God’s will and all he gets is “derision and reproach all the day.” He wants to hang it up, but he can’t. He has been duped by his love of God and God’s ways. He finds he has no choice but to carry on despite the hardships.
What lightens the cross then is a deep love for God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. In Christ, we can endure all things. So, it would be helpful if on our lips this week was the prayer of the psalmist in today’s psalm, “Lord, my heart pines for you like a dry weary land without water.”