a wondrous Sunday

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

You are my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you; your right hand upholds me.

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Reading 2 Rom 12:1-2
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Gospel Mt 16:21-27
Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
He turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"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 will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life"
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct."

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Talk about powerful readings, found in today's liturgy! The psalm is a cry, a deep in the soul longing, to know God intimately. Fr. Michael Joncas set it so beautifully. His setting is a perfect blending of the accompaniment, the melody and the words. By the time the psalm is finished, there is no doubt in your head (or should I say heart?) what exactly the psalmist was trying to convey so that your heart can sing it, too. (You can access a version of it on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amzTaXQqFcc) Every time I played it at Mass this weekend (4 times!), I felt like weeping. Indeed, my soul is thirsting for you, O Lord, my God! What a gift it is to have such music when singing this psalm!

The passage from Romans 12 packs quite a wallop! We are told that we must be living sacrifices. We must discern the will of God and do it. We must take up our crosses and follow Jesus. These two verses can certainly be fodder for lots of contemplation and discernment!

The Gospel is very compelling for me. How many times have I thought better of God's will in my life? How many times have I been like Peter, saying certainly that isn't what you have in mind, Lord, when I didn't want to do something that I knew, deep in my heart, was God's will? Jesus' response to me was probably a lot like his to Peter. I was too arrogant to hear it then.

I was given a gift today. My friend, Sr. Susan Kennedy, the foundress of the Daughters of Divine Hope down in Tyler, Texas (website: http://www.daughtersofdivinehope.org/mainpage.html), shared with me something very beautiful. She had met with her bishop on Friday and was excited to tell me all about their meeting. (Trust me, I was just as excited to hear what she had to say!) It was about consecrated religious--actually ALL of us--being "living sacrifices". We must be transformed into living our entire lives as radically consecrated in the Truth. We must embrace our crosses and the crosses of those around us. In other words, everything we do must reflect Christ to others. For her, it means taking up the crosses of her Sisters and helping them, as Simon of Cyrene did for our Lord. For me, it is about saying yes to God's will to become formed as a consecrated religious. Ultimately, the mission, for consecrated religious, is to care for the Church. I don't know entirely what this means for my life yet, but I know God will show me, by and by.

Sister Sue told me that she had come to realize, as she's been wearing her habit, that her habit isn't something that calls attention to herself. It's an invitation for all who meet her to enter into Christ and His love for them. She has been surprised--and very blessed--to see this at work and to experience it.

I cannot even begin to tell you what a gift her words were to me! When we hung up, I cried. What she had just given to me was extremely important to my understanding of my mission in life. It felt like a great, great gift! The things she shared are all things I have been slooooowwwwwly coming to understand but could not articulate them nearly as she did for me. I long for the life about which she spoke. We were not able to talk long today and I have a feeling there is much, much more she has to tell me. I look forward to our next conversation about this. Every time we speak together, I learn so very much about the religious life and about taking up my cross and following Jesus. I thank God for our friendship. As she once told me, she believes we are companions on the journey, as so many saints were for one another. That is such a humbling thought!

Please pray for this fledgling community. It is a vital, important work!