Click HERE to view the bulletin for Sunday, February 25, 2018 – Second Sunday in Lent 

In today’s gospel, Jesus challenges his disciples by naming his fate out loud: suffering, rejection, and death. These are truths his disciples may have wondered about as opposition to Jesus’ ministry mounted, but Peter’s reaction shows us that they were not ready to face them head on. In the season of Lent, Jesus’ death in Jerusalem always looms on the horizon. For us now, facing Jesus’ death is no longer a question for the future. We all know how the story ends. But we still struggle with the truth of a God who chose to reveal God’s own nature through servanthood, humiliation, and weakness. We still struggle with the call to pick up our own crosses and name the hard truths about our own lives and failings.