Today, we consider that to see Jesus and follow Him means to have a mature obedience that enables us to listen and respond (response-able). And this is possible only in the person who is truly liberated from the childish cravings of the ego and passions: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16,24). To hear and respond to God’s call in our daily lives means that we possess the ability to forget ourselves and serve others. Only love makes such a risk possible (cf. Heb 5:8-9).

The sage Buddha tells that “To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.” A concrete example is the family life where parents have fully and generously dedicated themselves for the good of the children, perhaps even to the point of forgetting themselves. They choose to do so in order that their children will be well prepared for a better future. In so doing, the family will be one and united.

We have countless inspiring models from teachers, doctors, social workers, consecrated persons and saints. Pope Francis inspires us to “see” Jesus in our daily life, because “although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust in God!”

A grain of wheat can only be lifegiving once it falls to the ground and dies (cf. John 12:24). This is also true in Jesus who in dying will show all his love by giving his life. Thus, the example of the grain of wheat is the life of Jesus and of every disciple who wishes to serve him, witness to him and have life in him: “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 16:25). Amen!

Today, we can also see Peter —a most remarkable figure and great testimony and teacher of the faith—as a man of flesh and blood. With virtues and failings, as each one of us. We have to be grateful to the Evangelists for having realistically acquainted us with the personality of the first followers of Christ. Peter, who —as we read in the 21st Sunday’s Gospel— makes an excellent confession of faith, and deserves a great praise by Jesus and the promise of the maximum authority within the Church (cf. Mt 16:16-19), also receives a sharp reprimand from the Master, because, on his journey to faith, he still has a lot to learn: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." (Mt 16:23).

Listening to Jesus' scolding Peter gives us a good motive to make an examination of conscience about our Christian personality. Are we truly faithful to the teachings of Jesus, to the point of actually thinking like God, or are we rather adapting ourselves to the criteria and way of thinking of this world? Throughout history, the sons of the Church have fallen into the temptation of following this world thinking, of leaning on the material riches, of yearning for politic power or social prestige; and at times, we are keener on the worldly interests than in the spirit of the Gospel. Before these facts, we are asked once again the same question: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Mt 16:26).

After clearing up these things, Jesus teaches us what thinking like God means: to love, with whatever is implied about denying ourselves in favor of our neighbor. This is why following Christ means taking up the Cross. It is a very tight following, because “with so good a friend and so good a captain at our side, who came forward first of all to suffer, one can bear everything. He helps us; He gives us strength; He never fails; He is a true Friend” (St. Teresa of Avila). And..., when the Cross is a sign of sincere love, then it becomes enlightening and a sign of salvation.