(Isaiah 50, 5-9a; James 2, 14-18; Mark 8, 27-35; 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
The first reading from the prophet Isaiah deals on the suffering servant of God who endured much suffering in the hands of his persecutors. He willingly offered his back to those who flogged him and his beard to those who pulled at it. He did not hide his face from those who poured out insults on him. He was indeed humiliated. His pains and humiliation notwithstanding, the servant still had great trust and confidence in God in whom he firmly hoped would assist and deliver him.
The Person of the suffering servant is given various interpretations. The New Testament writers see in him the Person of Jesus Christ. As Jesus did his ministry and worked miracles among his people he was conscious of his identity as the Messiah but did not want this to be divulged among the people. One day, he wanted to find out from his disciples whom the people took him for. Some thought he was either John the Baptist or any of the Old Testament prophets. When Jesus wanted the opinion of his own disciples, Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. Christ then took the opportunity to inform the disciples on the type of messiah he was. He was not, as they all expected, the triumphant political messiah. Rather he was the type of messiah who would be humiliated, suffer and die on the cross. This idea of suffering did not go down well with the disciples, especially Peter. But Jesus reprimanded him and corrected the notion of the type of messiah he thought Jesus was. Thereafter, Jesus went on to teach about discipleship: If anyone wishes to follow me, let him renounce himself, take up his cross and follow me. By this statement, it was clear that Jesus’ messiah-ship was that of the cross and whoever was following Jesus for material gain was backing the wrong horse. The disciple after the heart of Jesus will have to adhere to three standards. First, he has to renounce himself. This means that he has to stop thinking of himself, making himself, selfishly, the centre of the world forgetting every other person completely. If one is to be a good disciple of Jesus, he has to do away with all forms of selfishness. 
The second duty the intending disciple of Jesus would undertake is to take up his cross. To take up the cross does not mean just accepting the difficulties of life with equanimity, rather, it means to give oneself, completely, to the service of the other person just as Christ himself shed his last blood on the cross in the spirit of total self-giving for the salvation of mankind. To carry the cross is, therefore, to share in this type of total love for others. The would-be disciples also should be ready to follow Christ. This does not just mean taking Christ as model. It rather means, following him by sharing in his choice and participating in his plan and programme. What this means in practical terms is living one’s life for love of others in Christ. Jesus further went on to teach: Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake and that of the kingdom will gain it. This principle reminds us that the vocation of man is to love God who, out of love, created man in order to communicate to him his love and render him capable of living in love.
In the second reading, James indicates that true faith has to manifest itself in good works. It means then that our faith is to be concretised in practical help we render to our needy neighbours. Our love for them should not end in wishing them well, but in practical gestures that alleviate their pains and suffering. This teaching of James, in a way, corresponds to Jesus’ in today’s gospel. Our faith in, and profession of Jesus as the Messiah should set us free from our selfishness and enable us to participate in Christ’s heroic, selfless and total self-giving in love for the salvation of mankind. We celebrate this maximum sacrifice of love of Christ in the Eucharist. May the Eucharist, mystery of faith, we celebrate, therefore, make us grow in the knowledge and experience of Jesus, the suffering Messiah. May the Eucharist, mystery of incredible love of Jesus and the sacrament of his total gift of self, also make us grow in love towards God and our brothers and sisters. Happy Sunday!+John I. Okoye
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