In his commentary on this Sunday’s Gospel, Friar Luciano Audisio, OAR, invites us to contemplate one of the most demanding passages of the Gospel: the first announcement of the passion and Jesus’ invitation to take up the cross. Far from presenting suffering as an end in itself, Christ reveals that true life is born when we stop clinging to ourselves and learn to follow Him with confidence, discovering that the cross is the path to fulfillment.
What does it mean to “take up the cross and follow Jesus”? Why does Peter go from being the rock to becoming a stumbling block? Friar Luciano Audisio explains how this Gospel reveals that the cross does not destroy life, but rather returns it transformed by love and fidelity to God.
Following Christ requires walking behind Him
This Sunday’s Gospel begins with an expression that marks a new moment in Jesus’ journey: “from then on” (ἀπὸ τότε). Until now, he had proclaimed the Kingdom; now, he begins to show that this Kingdom has a specific path, and that this path leads through Jerusalem, through suffering, through death, and through resurrection. Jesus does not present the cross as an unexpected accident, but as part of God’s design. Therefore, he uses a decisive word: “it is necessary” (δεῖ). Jesus’ life is not left to chance; he gives himself freely in fidelity to the Father.
Peter, however, cannot accept that path. Shortly before, he had confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and had been called the rock of the Church. Now, paradoxically, he becomes a stumbling block. He takes Him aside and begins to rebuke Him. Peter wants to protect Jesus, to spare Him from suffering, to prevent the path from ending at the cross. His intention seems good, but therein lies the danger: even a noble desire can become an obstacle when it attempts to replace God’s design with one’s own human logic.
That is why Jesus responds to him with surprising harshness: “Get behind me, Satan.” Peter must return to his place: behind Jesus. That is the position of the disciple. Not in front of the Master to show Him the way, but behind Him to follow Him. Peter’s temptation consists in wanting a Messiah without a cross and, with it, a salvation without self-giving. But Jesus reveals that the things of God cannot be measured by human categories.
After correcting Peter, Jesus extends His teaching to all the disciples: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” To deny oneself means to stop placing one’s own self at the center of everything. The disciple does not disappear or cease to be himself; he changes the center from which he understands his existence. He no longer lives to secure, possess, and protect himself, but to give of himself.
The expression “take up his cross” must have been shocking. Jesus turns the cross into the sign of discipleship: to take up His path means to follow Him even where it leads to total self-giving.
True life is found when we learn to give it away
Then the central paradox of the Gospel appears: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The Greek word psychē (ψυχή) captures the richness of the Hebrew nefeš (נפש), which means life, breath, throat. Jesus speaks of two ways of living desire. One consists in closing oneself off, trying to preserve one’s own life as a possession. The other consists in opening oneself to the gift and discovering that the life received reaches its fulfillment when it is given away.
Therefore, losing one’s life for Christ does not mean destroying it. It means to stop living clinging to it. The paradox is that precisely where it seems that everything is lost, the finding begins. Like the grain that, by falling into the earth, does not cease to be fruitful because it decomposes, so too an existence given for love finds its fruitfulness in that self-giving.
Jesus then formulates a question that pierces all our projects: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” We can achieve recognition and accumulate security and yet lose that which no wealth can buy back. No whole world can constitute a sufficient price to recover a life that has lost itself. The Gospel forces us to ask ourselves what we are trying to gain and what we are risking losing.
Finally, Jesus announces the coming of the Son of Man in the glory of the Father. Each will be judged according to his conduct. What today seems like loss will then be revealed as a gift. The cross that the world considers a failure will be recognized as the way of life.
The cross does not destroy the desire to live: it purifies it
Therefore, the Gospel does not invite us to seek suffering for the sake of suffering. It invites us to follow Christ. And following Him means walking behind Him, day after day, letting our desire be transformed. The cross does not eliminate our desire to live; it purifies it from the need to possess and retain. It teaches us to receive life as one receives breath: as a gift that we cannot store, but only welcome and give away.
Let us listen again to that word addressed to Peter: “Get behind me.” Returning behind Jesus means recovering our place as disciples. He knows the way; we are called to walk with Him. And when that path crosses the cross, we will be able to discover that where we thought life ended, God was teaching us, precisely, to breathe again.
Taking up the cross and following Jesus: the Gospel explained by Friar Luciano Audisio
In his commentary on this Sunday’s Gospel, Friar Luciano Audisio, OAR, invites us to contemplate one of the most demanding passages of the Gospel: the first announcement of the passion and Jesus’ invitation to take up the cross. Far from presenting suffering as an end in itself, Christ reveals that true life is born when we stop clinging to ourselves and learn to follow Him with confidence, discovering that the cross is the path to fulfillment.
What does it mean to “take up the cross and follow Jesus”? Why does Peter go from being the rock to becoming a stumbling block? Friar Luciano Audisio explains how this Gospel reveals that the cross does not destroy life, but rather returns it transformed by love and fidelity to God.
Following Christ requires walking behind Him
This Sunday’s Gospel begins with an expression that marks a new moment in Jesus’ journey: “from then on” (ἀπὸ τότε). Until now, he had proclaimed the Kingdom; now, he begins to show that this Kingdom has a specific path, and that this path leads through Jerusalem, through suffering, through death, and through resurrection. Jesus does not present the cross as an unexpected accident, but as part of God’s design. Therefore, he uses a decisive word: “it is necessary” (δεῖ). Jesus’ life is not left to chance; he gives himself freely in fidelity to the Father.
Peter, however, cannot accept that path. Shortly before, he had confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and had been called the rock of the Church. Now, paradoxically, he becomes a stumbling block. He takes Him aside and begins to rebuke Him. Peter wants to protect Jesus, to spare Him from suffering, to prevent the path from ending at the cross. His intention seems good, but therein lies the danger: even a noble desire can become an obstacle when it attempts to replace God’s design with one’s own human logic.
That is why Jesus responds to him with surprising harshness: “Get behind me, Satan.” Peter must return to his place: behind Jesus. That is the position of the disciple. Not in front of the Master to show Him the way, but behind Him to follow Him. Peter’s temptation consists in wanting a Messiah without a cross and, with it, a salvation without self-giving. But Jesus reveals that the things of God cannot be measured by human categories.
After correcting Peter, Jesus extends His teaching to all the disciples: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” To deny oneself means to stop placing one’s own self at the center of everything. The disciple does not disappear or cease to be himself; he changes the center from which he understands his existence. He no longer lives to secure, possess, and protect himself, but to give of himself.
The expression “take up his cross” must have been shocking. Jesus turns the cross into the sign of discipleship: to take up His path means to follow Him even where it leads to total self-giving.
True life is found when we learn to give it away
Then the central paradox of the Gospel appears: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The Greek word psychē (ψυχή) captures the richness of the Hebrew nefeš (נפש), which means life, breath, throat. Jesus speaks of two ways of living desire. One consists in closing oneself off, trying to preserve one’s own life as a possession. The other consists in opening oneself to the gift and discovering that the life received reaches its fulfillment when it is given away.
Therefore, losing one’s life for Christ does not mean destroying it. It means to stop living clinging to it. The paradox is that precisely where it seems that everything is lost, the finding begins. Like the grain that, by falling into the earth, does not cease to be fruitful because it decomposes, so too an existence given for love finds its fruitfulness in that self-giving.
Jesus then formulates a question that pierces all our projects: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” We can achieve recognition and accumulate security and yet lose that which no wealth can buy back. No whole world can constitute a sufficient price to recover a life that has lost itself. The Gospel forces us to ask ourselves what we are trying to gain and what we are risking losing.
Finally, Jesus announces the coming of the Son of Man in the glory of the Father. Each will be judged according to his conduct. What today seems like loss will then be revealed as a gift. The cross that the world considers a failure will be recognized as the way of life.
The cross does not destroy the desire to live: it purifies it
Therefore, the Gospel does not invite us to seek suffering for the sake of suffering. It invites us to follow Christ. And following Him means walking behind Him, day after day, letting our desire be transformed. The cross does not eliminate our desire to live; it purifies it from the need to possess and retain. It teaches us to receive life as one receives breath: as a gift that we cannot store, but only welcome and give away.
Let us listen again to that word addressed to Peter: “Get behind me.” Returning behind Jesus means recovering our place as disciples. He knows the way; we are called to walk with Him. And when that path crosses the cross, we will be able to discover that where we thought life ended, God was teaching us, precisely, to breathe again.
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