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Today, 6th of December, we celebrate
Saint Nicholas
Reading 1: Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7
See, upon the mountains there advances
the bearer of good news,
announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,
fulfill your vows!
For nevermore shall you be invaded
by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
the pride of Israel,
Though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined the tendrils.
Woe to the bloody city, all lies,
full of plunder, whose looting never stops!
The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels;
horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,
Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
the many slain, the heaping corpses,
the endless bodies to stumble upon!
I will cast filth upon you,
disgrace you and put you to shame;
Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
“Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
Where can one find any to console her?”
Responsorial Psalm Dt 32:35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“Learn then that I, I alone, am God,
and there is no god besides me.
It is I who bring both death and life,
I who inflict wounds and heal them.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
“With vengeance I will repay my foes
and requite those who hate me.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28
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 each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Follow me…
Peter professed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, but when he heard his Master speaking of suffering and death, he wanted to dissuade Jesus from going ahead with the possibility. Jesus performed an exorcism on Peter, saying: “Get behind me, Satan!”
After this incident, Jesus elaborates on the requirements for following him. He presents three specific expectations for anyone who decides to follow him: «Renounce yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.»
Denying yourself means stopping to think about yourself. It involves going against the usual principles that guide interpersonal interactions. The disciple of Christ is called to give up any personal ambitions. Even our good works or acts of charity shall not be to accumulate merits in heaven. Jesus calls us to love freely, in pure loss, as does the Father.
The second command: «Carry your cross,» does not suggest enduring life’s challenges and difficulties, whether they are significant or minor. The cross does not signify suffering in order to appease God. Instead, it represents love and utter selflessness. To bear your cross means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus: loving unconditionally, doing good, and bringing joy to others.
The third imperative, “follow me,” means to share the choices of Jesus, take part in his project and to bet your life on love. We permit the cross displayed on the wall in our homes or the cross we wear as a symbol of our desire to be connected with Christ while lovingly caring for our fellow human beings, particularly the most vulnerable and smallest among us.
As a result, if we want to be his disciples, we are called to imitate him, expending our life without any reservations, out of love of God and neighbour.
bibleclaret.orgTake Up Your Cross
Introduction
In poetic language, the prophet Nahum announces the fall of the city of Nineveh with its cruel oppression of the nations of the region. For God is the master of history. This is good news to the people of Judah.
In the Gospel, Jesus presents the Christian life by means of three equivalent expressions. It means: to renounce oneself – that is, to accept God’s way of thinking and acting rather than one’s own; to take up the cross – that is, to take the risk of undergoing the fate of the Master and give up personal security; and to follow Jesus – that is, to accept the guidance of Jesus, his Gospel, not only in theory but also in practice. Are we ready to do this? Is this what the Christian life means for us?
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
we know that following your Son means
to let someone else lead us,
where we perhaps were not intending to go.
But it is your Son who leads us and goes with us.
And so, we say: We are willing to go with him,
but help us Lord, when our hearts grow faint,
that we may keep going with him
who is our Lord for ever.
Intercessions
– Lord Jesus, for those who follow you on the way to the cross as they are persecuted for believing in you, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, for those who follow you on the way of the cross as they make self-renunciation to dedicate themselves to take care of lonely and sick people, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, for those who bear their sufferings in patience with you, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Bread and wine,
Lord our God,
are our strength and joy on the road of life.
Let your Son break for us the better bread
and pour for us the better wine of himself,
that keep us going, and when needed,
even climbing the mountain of suffering
and of apparent defeat.
For we trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
you know how much we are afraid
of taking risks and committing ourselves
to the new and the unknown.
But you beckon us through your Son
and you let him be our strength.
And so, we pray you:
Keep calling us out of our enclosures
and give us the courage to go all the way
to you and to one another
without fear or compromise.
Let the Gospel of Jesus
become good news of happiness and joy
to fill our lives, for ever and ever.
Blessing
“Take up your cross and follow me.” We must take up the cross demanded by faithfulness to the Gospel, our Christian community, our family, our task in life, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
