Vatican City, Jun 29, 2018 / 02:25 am
For Jesus, suffering and glory go hand-in-hand, Pope Francis said Friday, urging Christians not to fall into the temptation of running from the cross, but to imitate Christ in bending down to embrace the weak and vulnerable.
In his homily for the June 29 Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the official patrons of Rome, the pope said that in Jesus, "glory and the cross go together; they are inseparable."
"Once we turn our back on the cross, even though we may attain the heights of glory, we will be fooling ourselves, since it will not be God's glory, but the snare of the enemy."
He pointed to the day's Gospel reading from Matthew, in which Peter declares that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." Though Jesus applauds Peter for this recognition, telling him he is the rock on which he will build the Church, a few lines later Jesus chastises Peter for swearing that he will not allow the crucifixion to happen.