Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priest, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this, he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (Mk 8:31-33)
These past 20 months since we first heard of COVID-19 have left us feeling very much like the first disciples of Jesus must have felt as they followed him. “Where are we going?” and “What does all of this mean?” were certainly questions they must have been asking themselves; we are asking the same questions today. Like Peter, none of us likes to face suffering and death and yet, we have all experienced them in a dramatic manner over these past several months. Of course, they are always part of our everyday lives and we have to face them honestly and humbly. Often, they are out of our control and we can only turn to God and our belief in eternal life for some understanding and peace. Until they met Jesus, the lives of his first followers were rather routine and, for the most part, they thought they had managed to navigate their everyday challenges. Then, Jesus came and turned everything upside down, teaching them to put their trust in God rather than themselves and promising them eternal life with God if they followed him. Today’s gospel message is another example of our Lord’s teaching that challenged them and it continues to challenge us today, as well. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” he declares. But, his message and his actions are so compelling that, although many leave him, grumbling, “this message is hard to take; who can follow it?” as we hear in the Gospel of John, some continue to follow him. And, although they suffer with him as he undergoes his suffering and death, they rejoice with him in his rising from the dead and are finally able to grasp his proclamation of the Resurrection.
We also must choose to follow Jesus, taking up our crosses, which now includes the cross of a deadly virus stalking us. Like the first disciples, many of us are frightened and worried, but we put our trust in Jesus and support each other on our journey as a parish to continue to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel and the promise of the Resurrection.
It is with this conviction, that we begin, once again, so many parish activities. Our parish school opened this past week with our 420 students – along with 40 teachers and other members of our staff – eager to see each other again and learn about Jesus and his life-changing gospel message. Our CYO fall sports have resumed and our Youth Group will host its fall kick off this afternoon as VoxAmadeus will hold its first concert of the season in our church this evening. Walking with Purpose will begin its 7th year in our parish center on Tuesday morning and our Men’s Evenings of Reflection as well as our parish Adult Choir will meet in the evening. On Wednesday, our Mothers of Young Children will hold its opening Mass, our Close Knit Community knitting group will return to knit articles for the poor, and our Knights of Columbus will hold their monthly meeting. Bible Study/Faith Sharing resumes in the parish center on Thursday morning and the Charismatic Prayer Group will hold its weekly prayer session in church in the evening. On Friday, our Evangelization Team will host a Holy Hour in church for all of its participants. So, you can see, we are all eager to return to our mission of following Jesus, wherever he leads us because we know that it means eternal life for those who remain faithful to him!
Our Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) will also begin later this month. Several people have already contacted me about RCIA, a program that helps adults discern their call to join the Catholic Church. If you’re interested, please contact me at halb@sksparish.org or call the rectory. Other parish activities are forthcoming so make sure you read the Parish Bulletin and pay attention to our Flocknote announcements so you don’t miss out on all of the ways we live our faith here in this vibrant community!
As we continue to navigate this coronavirus pandemic, I’ve heard from so many of you about your fears and concerns as well as your determination to return to living your faith as fully as possible. I share your fears, concerns and determination and I thank everyone who is working so hard to help us all return to our mission as a parish. Unlike the first disciples, we all know that we’re headed to heaven and the coronavirus is yet another opportunity for us to put our trust in our Lord and follow him, through suffering and death, to the glory of the Resurrection!