13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 4:30 mass

Devotional

Day 1: Crucified Upside Down, Raised in New Perspective

The cross demands reversal. Peter’s inverted crucifixion became his ultimate act of surrender, transforming shame into humility. Discipleship often turns worldly logic upside down, asking us to embrace discomfort as the path to resurrection. Martyrdom is rare, but daily deaths to pride, control, and self-preservation shape our baptismal identity. Even Paul’s swift beheading reminds us that faithfulness trumps earthly safety. Liberation comes when we stop clinging to what feels right and let Christ reorient our posture. [24:21]

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28, ESV)

Reflection: What familiar comfort or control have you been gripping tightly that Christ might be asking you to release? How could surrendering it deepen your trust in His upside-down kingdom?

Day 2: Baptized Into Death’s Unavoidable Current

The waters of baptism pull us into Christ’s death before raising us to new life. Like a river carving canyons, suffering reshapes our story against our will. Paul insists baptism binds us to Christ’s crucifixion, making every trial a shared wound with the Savior. Saint Josephine’s forgiveness of her captors reveals how even forced suffering can birth unexpected grace. True freedom flows when we stop fighting the current and let Christ’s death carry us. [26:03]

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, ESV)

Reflection: Recall a painful experience you initially resisted. How has Christ used that “burial” to carve space for new life in you?

Day 3: Kissing the Hands That Held Chains

Forgiveness transfigures curses into blessings. Saint Josephine Bakita kissed her captors’ hands not because their cruelty was good, but because Christ rewrote her story through it. Like Paul’s persecution becoming apostleship, our wounds become witness when we release bitterness. The oil of salvation anoints even scarred places, making us living proof that love outlives betrayal. Every kiss of forgiveness echoes Christ’s embrace of Judas in Gethsemane. [27:24]

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44–45, ESV)

Reflection: Is there a “captor” in your story—a person or pain—that Christ is inviting you to kiss with forgiveness? What might liberation feel like?

Day 4: Garments Stained with Resurrection Light

The baptismal robe symbolizes a new identity forged in death’s furnace. Andrea’s white garment, like the disciples’ transfigured Christ, glows with the promise that every death births radiance. Peter’s denials were unraveled by resurrection dawn, his shame rewoven into apostolic authority. Our trials stitch us into the tapestry of saints who walked through darkness to become light-bearers. To wear Christ is to let every scar testify: “Death could not hold Him—or you.” [38:08]

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV)

Reflection: What “stain” from your past has Christ repurposed into a badge of His redeeming light? How might you wear that story boldly today?

Day 5: Eating the Bread of Broken Things

The Eucharist cracks open Christ’s death to nourish our daily dyings. Just as grain must be crushed to become bread, our fractures make us vessels of grace. The chalice of salvation holds both suffering and joy, mingled like wine and water. Saints Peter and Paul received the broken Body before becoming broken for Him. At Communion, we chew on the paradox: every “Do this in memory of me” is an invitation to let our crumbling feed the world. [47:04]

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” (Luke 22:19, ESV)

Reflection: What “broken” part of your life could you offer at today’s altar, trusting Christ to multiply it as nourishment for others?

Sermon Summary

Saints Peter and Paul stand before the church as a strange kind of celebration. Peter denied Jesus three times, and yet Peter was crucified upside down for the faith. Paul once persecuted Christians, and yet Paul was beheaded by the sword. Their feast day is joyful, but their deaths put that joy in the right light.

Jesus in the gospel says, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow after me is not worthy of me,” and “whoever loses their life will find it.” Discipleship costs something. To follow Jesus is never the easy way out. Bonhoeffer’s sharp line tells the truth plainly: “When Christ calls a person, he bids them come and die.”

Baptism brings that cost right into the center of Christian life. Saint Paul asks the Romans, “Are you unaware that those baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Baptism is not only a nice family moment or a beautiful ritual. Baptism means that Christ’s death becomes part of the baptized person’s story, not only at the end of life, but again and again through life’s trials.

Being baptized into Christ’s death does not mean running away from life. It means facing the hardest things without pretending they are good in themselves, while still recognizing that they shape a person’s story. Challenges teach surrender. Painful experiences can teach the loss of control. Even in every curse, there can also be a blessing.

Saint Josephine Bakhita gives that truth flesh and blood. Her early life was filled with horrible treatment, yet she could say that without her captors she would not have become a Christian or a religious sister. She could even say she would kiss their hands and forgive them. That does not glorify suffering, but it does show how grace can bring life out of what looked only like death.

Baptism calls each person to decide how death will be incorporated into life in order to be true to baptism. The question is not whether suffering will come, but what will be done with it. Christ’s way says that literal and figurative death is never the end. In each death, something new is born.

The baptism of Andrea makes that truth visible. Christ claims her with the cross, frees her from sin, gives her new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, clothes her in Christian dignity, and entrusts to her the light of Christ. The baptized life is a life marked by the cross, but also by new creation, bright light, and everlasting life.

##

Key Takeaways

1. Discipleship costs a real death Jesus does not present discipleship as the easy way out. The cross is not an ornament added to faith, but the shape of faith when love refuses self-protection. The Christian life loses something in order to receive something deeper than control, comfort, or survival. [25:05]
2. Baptism joins Christ’s death Saint Paul’s question to the Romans makes baptism more than a symbol of belonging. Baptism places a person inside the death of Christ, so that suffering is no longer meaningless or isolated. The baptized person does not escape death’s shadows, but passes through them with Christ’s life already at work. [26:03]
3. Pain can reshape the story Hard experiences are not called good simply because they happened. Yet grace can make even unwanted burdens part of a deeper story of surrender, freedom, and strength. The mature soul can look back without denying the pain and still say that the path formed something necessary. [26:50]
4. Forgiveness can kiss wounded hands Saint Josephine Bakhita’s words do not excuse evil or make suffering beautiful. Her forgiveness shows that grace can become so free that even captors lose their final power over the wounded person’s story. Such mercy is not weakness, but a sign that Christ has carried death into resurrection. [27:24]
5. Every death can birth life Christian faith refuses to let death have the final word, whether death is literal or figurative. The losses, endings, and crosses of life can become places where something new begins. Christ calls a person to die because only surrendered life can be raised.

## [29:00]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[08:54] - Mercy for Avoided Discipleship
[23:47] - Rome, Peter, and Paul
[24:21] - Martyrs Remembered Differently
[24:42] - Taking Up the Cross
[25:23] - Bonhoeffer and Costly Discipleship
[26:03] - Baptized Into Christ’s Death
[27:06] - Finding Blessing in the Curse
[27:24] - Saint Josephine Bakhita’s Witness
[28:08] - Incorporating Death Into Baptism
[30:32] - Andrea Presented for Baptism
[35:07] - Baptized in the Trinity
[38:08] - Clothed in Christ’s Light
[53:04] - Communion Reflection on Suffering
[62:35] - Final Prayer and Parish Updates

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 10:38-39
“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” [24:57]

Romans 6:3
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” [26:10]

1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Observation questions

In Matthew 10:38-39, what two things does Jesus say a person must be ready to do, and what promise does he attach to losing one’s life for his sake? [25:05]
What details stand out in the lives of Peter and Paul that make their feast day both joyful and sobering? [24:21]
According to Romans 6:3, what does baptism join a person to, and how was that described as something that reaches beyond the end of earthly life? [26:03]
What concrete signs in the baptism rite show Andrea’s new identity in Christ—freedom from sin, new birth, Christian dignity, and light? [38:08]

Interpretation questions

Jesus says that whoever does not take up the cross is not worthy of him. What does “taking up the cross” seem to mean here if most believers will never face martyrdom? [25:49]
Romans 6:3 connects baptism with Christ’s death. How does that change the way suffering, loss, or unwanted hardship can be understood in the Christian life? [26:18]
Peter denied Jesus and Paul persecuted Christians, yet both became faithful witnesses. What does that suggest about how grace works in people with a broken past? [24:30]
Saint Josephine Bakhita could forgive those who harmed her without calling evil good. How can forgiveness be real without excusing the wrong that was done? [27:24]

Application questions

Jesus says that whoever finds his life will lose it. Where is the strongest temptation right now to protect comfort, control, or reputation instead of following Christ more fully? [25:13]
Baptism joins a person to Christ’s death not only once, but again and again through life. What is one hardship, disappointment, or loss that needs to be brought more honestly into prayer instead of avoided? [26:20]
Some painful experiences are not good in themselves, yet grace can still shape a person through them. Is there an unpleasant part of life that, looking back, has taught surrender, patience, or freedom? [28:24]
Saint Josephine Bakhita’s witness raises the question of forgiveness in a serious way. Is there someone whose hold on the heart still needs to be loosened by mercy, even if trust cannot yet be restored? [27:37]
Christians are called to decide how death will be incorporated into life in order to be true to baptism. What might that mean in a very practical way this week—accepting a hidden sacrifice, letting go of an old resentment, or giving up the need to control an outcome? [28:08]
Andrea was claimed for Christ by the sign of the cross and entrusted with his light. How can a baptized person keep that light burning brightly in ordinary daily life at home, at work, or with family? [38:11]
For Christians, death is never the end; in each death, something new is born. Where might God be asking for trust that a present ending could become the beginning of new life? [29:00]

Sermon Clips

64s

“``Being baptized into his death means that even in our hardest moments, we do not run away from life. Perhaps the sign of truly being baptized into the death of Christ Jesus is whenever we think back over all challenges we've been through, including the ones we tried to get out of but couldn't, and say that if we had to do it all over again, we wouldn't change a thing. That is not because we liked what happened to us, but because our experiences shape our story. Our experiences teach us how to give up control and make the most out of whatever situation we face. Our experiences teach us that in every curse, there is also a blessing.”

64s

“To be a follower of Jesus is never the easy way out. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the one who famously preached the cost of discipleship once said, when Christ calls a person, he bids them come and die. While this sounds morbid and we should never glorify in suffering, we know that there is great truth in it. Most of us, thankfully, will never experience martyrdom. Yet all of us who are baptized will, in some way, experience death, not just at the end of our lives, but multiple times throughout our lives. As Saint Paul asked the Romans in our second reading, are you unaware that we who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

76s

“In today's gospel, Jesus says, whoever does not take up their cross and follow after me is not worthy of me, and whoever loses their life will find it. In this teaching, Jesus reminds his followers, including us today, that discipleship costs us something. To be a follower of Jesus is never the easy way out. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the one who famously preached the cost of discipleship once said, when Christ calls a person, he bids them come and die. While this sounds morbid and we should never glorify in suffering, we know that there is great truth in it. Most of us, thankfully, will never experience martyrdom. Yet all of us who are baptized will, in some way, experience death, not just at the end of our lives, but multiple times throughout our lives.”

53s

“And so we ask ourselves this weekend, what are some of the unpleasant things I have been through in life that I would not change if I had to go back and do it again? And how have I found liberation by going through the challenges challenges of life and coming out stronger? As we continue with this mass, let us not be afraid of being baptized into the death of Christ Jesus like saints Peter and Paul. For Christians, death, whether literal or figurative, is never the end. In each death, something new is born.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Bakhita Columbus This sermon · AI assistant

What does it mean to be baptized into death?

How should Christians incorporate figurative deaths into life?

What responsibilities do parents and godparents accept?