Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Lent

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:27–38)

Do you wish to follow Christ? Be humble where He was humble; do not despise His humility if you wish to reach His height. Truly, the path became rough when man sinned, but it is smooth since Christ through His Resurrection trod upon it and made a royal road out of the exceedingly narrow path. Men run upon this way with two feet, that is, through humility and charity. Loftiness delights all men on it, but humility is the first step. Why do you stretch your foot beyond you? You want to fall, not to rise. Begin with the first step, that is, with humility, and you have risen.

For this reason our Lord and Savior not only said: Let him deny himself, but He added: take up his cross, and follow me. What does this mean, take up his cross? Let him bear whatever is troublesome: thus let him follow Me. When he has begun to follow Me according to My morals and precepts, he will have many people who contradict him and stand in his way, many who not only deride but even persecute him. Moreover, this is true, not only of pagans who are outside of the Church, but also of those who seem to be in it corporally but are outside of it because of the perversity of their deeds. Although these men glory in merely the title of Christian, they continually persecute good Christians. Such men belong to the members of the Church in the same way that bad blood is in the body. Therefore, if you wish to follow Christ, do not delay in carrying His cross; tolerate sinners, but do not yield to them. Do not let the false happiness of the wicked corrupt you. You ought to despise all things for the sake of Christ, in order that you may deserve to arrive at His companionship. The world is loved, but let the One who made the world be preferred to it. The world is beautiful, but much fairer is the One by whom the world was made. The world is flattering, but more delightful is He by whom the world was created.

Caesarius of Arles, Sermons 159.4–5