I’ve sometimes had problems with outcomes after I resigned myself to someone doing something right, only to find they failed to do so. Today’s first reading echoes such a situation, but positively, after the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:7-9) felt deceived by God, even though he had submitted his will to being so “duped.” Nevertheless, despite his frustration and disappointment, Jeremiah could not simply walk away from his calling, because God’s word had become like a fire burning within him.
This weekend’s liturgy (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63:2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9; Romans 12:1-2), especially the Gospel (Matthew 16:21-27), reminisces about the feeling that good people should not suffer and that people will always do the right thing and maintain order. However, in today’s gospel, Jesus reminded Peter and the disciples that the path before Him would necessarily involve suffering, rejection, and the cross, because God’s purposes do not always follow the paths we would choose.
If that’s so, brothers and sisters, we must remember that God didn’t promise us a life without challenges (a bed full of roses), even when He desires that we receive or enjoy the best that life brings. That’s why the road to success or happiness is decorated with thorns that we should pull, one at a time, to pluck the roses. The beginning of a new week is a good time to learn to persuade people to face challenges, as doing so is godly, rather than to flee from certain crises. Actually, to prepare for challenges is the foundation of every accomplishment.
This weekend, I urge everyone to face challenges gradually so as to achieve goals. We are born for greatness; we are born to pluck the roses in God’s garden because God has planted them for our enjoyment and pleasure. But we must thread slowly around the thorns, not out of fear or “not to be hurt,” but to remember that despite the hurt, we can still have roses if we apply tremendous caution and endurance. In the eyes of Jesus (Matthew 16:21-27), the cross is no reason to feel that God has abandoned us; rather, it is the very foundation through which God leads us toward the roses He has planted along our journey.
