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Today, 6th of December, we celebrate
Saint Nicholas
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Behold, I set before you the blessing and the curse
Moses said to the people:
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the Lord, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the Lord swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R./ Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the Lord
and meditates on his law day and night.
R./ Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R./ Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the Lord watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R./ Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Gospel Reading: Luke 9:22-25
Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?”
Quo vadis, Domine?
The Apocrypha of the Acts of St. Peter narrates a story of Peter running away from Rome when faced with increasing persecution in the city. Peter and some of his companions from the early Church decided that it would be best if he left Rome and continued his work elsewhere so that he would escape the threat of persecution and, more importantly, could spread the Gospel elsewhere too.
As Peter was fleeing Rome, feeling confident that he was doing what was best for him and the early Church, he had a life-altering encounter with Christ, in a vision of Jesus walking toward the city of Rome. In pure shock and confusion, Peter asked, “Quo vadis, Domine?” which means, “Where are you going, Lord?” Jesus answered, “I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time.”
To understand the Gospel text better, we should understand the situation in which Jesus makes this prediction about his suffering and death. Peter had just proclaimed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah of God. But his understanding of the Messiah was totally different from the truth. The similar texts of the synoptic gospels will tell us that Peter could not accept a Messiah who would suffer and finally be killed. His understanding was of a triumphant messiah who would establish his kingdom, and he and his companions would occupy important positions there.
Our faith in Jesus is sometimes like that of Peter and his companions. It is difficult to believe in a God who suffers rejection and death. And it does not stop there. He says if anyone wants to follow me, he has to take up his cross daily and follow! Who does not want to preserve their life? Self-preservation is an instinct. Jesus in the Gospel reminds us that a life focused only on ourselves and our self-advancement is ultimately a recipe for self-destruction.
The only way to live is, like Jesus, to offer our lives for others in love, caring, solidarity, compassion and justice. Because these are the nature of God. When we fail to show this merciful nature of God for the suffering brothers and sisters, we forget that it is the Lord himself who suffers injustice, rejection and persecution. Like Peter, who was fleeing Rome, we try to escape suffering, pain, rejection, and discrimination. In this Lenten season, please stop for a while before Jesus and ask him to guide us on the path that he wants us to walk.
Bible Claret
