In today’s gospel, Jesus asks his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Messiah.” Yet Peter did not understand, and so Jesus then taught the crowds and his disciples, saying, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” To be a Christian is to forsake oneself and follow Jesus on the way of the cross. The way of the cross is self-sacrificial love for others in imitation of Jesus.
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