Gospel Sunday 22 A

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew                  Matthew 16, 21-27

Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he himself would go to Jerusalem.  He said that he would suffer a lot because of the Jewish priests and the scribes.  They would condemn him to death.  But on the third day he himself would rise to life. 

Then Peter spoke to Jesus in private: “You will die?  No, this must not happen to you.”  But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Go away, you Satan.  You are not helping me, because the way you think is the way of the people, not God’s way.”

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If people want to follow me they must forget themselves, carry their cross and follow me.  People that want to save their lives will lose their life.  People that give up their lives for me will find true life.  If people win the world but lose their lives, what is the point?  If people want true life, what can we do to have that true life?

The Son of Man will come again with his Father’s glory and with his angels.  He will come and give reward to each person depending on what that person has done.”