Etsy Art - Public Domain

During my years working undercover, after an arrest and the revelation of my true identity, someone would inevitably say, “I knew you were a cop!” Well, no, they really didn’t. Had they known, they would never have invited me so freely into their world.

That experience offers an imperfect glimpse into this Sunday’s readings. Jeremiah lived among his people carrying a mission they did not recognize. Proclaiming God’s word brought him ridicule, rejection, and danger. He wanted to remain silent, yet the word became “like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones.” God loved his broken people too much to leave them without a prophet.

Jesus also entered our broken world with his divine glory veiled beneath human flesh. He came not to observe suffering from a safe distance, but to enter it, carry it, and redeem it. Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ yet resisted the mission of the cross. He wanted a Messiah without suffering, a Savior without sacrifice.

But Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

Brothers, these words carry particular meaning as some of our brother deacons are on retreat, stepping away from ministry’s demands to listen again for that fire within. As when the rest of you when on retreat, we pray that these days renew their first love for Christ, restore weary hearts, and remind them that even our rest is entrusted to God.

We also pray for our candidates of the Class of 2027 as they make their retreat. They are drawing closer to the altar and to the day when they may offer themselves publicly as servants of Christ and his Church. May they understand ever more deeply that ordination is not an escape from the cross, but a grace to carry it with Christ for his people.

St. Paul provides the bridge: “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.” A living sacrifice must choose each day to belong to God.

Whether ordained many years, approaching ordination, or quietly discerning the next faithful step, we remain disciples behind the Master. Let us pray that no cross is wasted, no weariness ignored, and no divine fire extinguished. May Christ transform every sacrifice into love, and every act of love into life.

In Christ the Servant + Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Receive + Believe + Teach + Practice