Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the  Gospel of this Sunday, August 23, 2026 ,  entitled:  “Do not be transformed by the criteria of this world . ” 

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Jeremiah 20:7-9:  “I am ridiculed for proclaiming the word of the Lord.”

Psalm 62:  “Lord, my soul thirsts for you”

Romans 12:1-12:  “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.”

Matthew 16:21-27:  “Whoever wants to come with me must deny themselves.”

In some places, public buildings, schools, and government offices have sparked controversy when images of Christ, placed there by devout individuals, were removed. The Cross, which for us is a sign of salvation, is for many a contradictory and confessional symbol, even for those who identify as Catholic. The Cross of Jesus continues to cause conflict among us when it is taken seriously.

Today’s readings express a kind of division between God’s values ​​and the values ​​of the world. The great rebuke Peter receives for advising Jesus not to take up the cross, death, and resurrection is based on the fact that  “your way of thinking is not God’s, but human’s.”  Saint Paul also exhorts the Romans  “not to be transformed by the judgment of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will .” And Jeremiah cries out in anguish and despair that he has been seduced by the Lord and that he proclaims a message that men do not accept. Thus, the men of God—Peter, Jeremiah, and Paul—are surprised because God’s way of acting is so far removed from the world of illusions and human ambitions. One of the characteristics of Jesus is this lifestyle that disrupts the plans of the world, that acts from the small and that builds from the despicable.

Peter had received praise for confessing that Jesus was the Messiah, and he was proud and confident in proclaiming him as the Son of the living God. He possessed the whole truth, but he never imagined that the Messiah’s path would lead to a life-or-death confrontation with the powers of this world, ultimately resulting in his exclusion, marginalization, and condemnation. Jesus’ path is not one of success and triumph, of power and fame. Jesus’ path is the path of truth, service, and encounter. Many of us love to cheer Jesus, but, like Peter, we struggle to understand that Jesus’ task and his project of salvation must be accomplished through suffering, exclusion, failure, and death. Like Jeremiah, we are fascinated and seduced by Jesus’ mission, but then, when we fear the consequences, we become anxious and long to return to the world’s standards, for proclaiming the word of the Lord makes us objects of ridicule.

Some have interpreted “taking up the cross” as a masochistic acceptance of suffering and misery, but this is not the meaning Jesus intended. Jesus neither loves nor seeks suffering, either for himself or for others, as if it held something particularly pleasing to God. One of the characteristics of his mission was precisely to alleviate suffering, satisfy hunger, and heal pain. Symbolically, the cross of Jesus manifests the fullness of human relationships: the relationship with God, expressed in the upper part; the relationship embodied in nature and the cosmos, as shown in the lower part; and the relationship open and committed to all people, as indicated by his arms. At the center, we find the crossroads of the paths of God and humanity, made flesh in Jesus himself. It is therefore neither a denial of the universe nor a life of angelism; suffering and poverty do not please God, but rather true balance in the inner and outer relationships of each person. When humanity adopts worldly values ​​such as ambition, selfishness, force, and pleasure, it ultimately destroys itself, nature, and its fellow human beings. At the heart of the cross, humanity finds its true fulfillment.

Christ comes to reveal to us the true dimension of each person, a dimension not limited or confined by the barriers imposed by worldly interests such as utilitarianism, commerce, and triumphalism. Jesus’s proposal is to build a world of brothers and sisters, a world of dignity, a world that recognizes itself as loved by God the Father. In his desire to build this world, Jesus encountered suffering and rejection. His disciples, too, will take up these crosses that arise from faithfully following Christ.

That other world is possible, but to reach it there are sufferings, rejections, conflicts, and crosses that Christians must always bear, but only in this way will a full life be possible. Jesus’ words might seem contradictory: ” What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”   But it is the reality: when we refuse to live the dynamic of the cross, everything turns against us. Having broken with God, life loses its meaning and we wander aimlessly; having destroyed nature, we feel attacked and like strangers in our own world; and having broken with our brothers and sisters, we lose ourselves in our loneliness and selfishness. We lose our center and our balance. What has been the point of our efforts if we find ourselves in the deepest unhappiness? Human beings can only be happy when they are in harmony with God, with nature, and with their brothers and sisters. It might seem like a heavy cross, but it is a cross that gives life, especially if we bear it in the style of Jesus: for love, with love, and in love. How do we carry our cross? Jesus’ words,  “Take up your cross and follow me, ” are also for us; then we will find true happiness. Only the cross of Jesus gives life.

Father full of tenderness, from whom all good things come, inflame us with your love and draw us closer to you, so that, discovering the life that the cross of Jesus brings us, we may live it with joy and faithfulness to build his Kingdom of Love. Amen