Gospel: Luke
9:22-25
Jesus
said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by
the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third
day be raised.”
Then he
said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there
for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”
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Reflection:
Are you
ready to carry your cross and faithfully follow Jesus now?
Jesus
gives us a paradoxical statement: "If anyone wishes to come after me, he
must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save
it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit
himself (Luke 23:25)?"
On the
surface this may seem to be an odd statement but if we are faithful followers
of Christ these are precious and priceless wisdom filled words from Jesus. The
moment we decide to follow the path of Jesus we will deny ourselves with the hedonism
of this world and we will courageously carry our cross to follow Him.
Amidst
the carrying of our daily cross we will also notice that it is not that heavy
simply because Jesus is with us. He is helping us carry whatever cross that we
have, making sure that the burdens that we carry right now are still light.
When
Jesus was carrying the cross towards Golgotha/Calvary His cross became a sign
of suffering and intense pain. However the same cross became the sign of
Triumph and Salvation. If we carry our cross with Jesus the same cross would
also be our means of purification and salvation.
Are you
carrying a cross right now? Humbly ask Jesus to help you carry that cross.
Prayer:
O Lord we
humbly beseech you to help us carry our cross. Sinners as we are yet we still
know that you will never refuse to help us, you will never refuse to give us
hope amidst our many crosses. Make our daily burdens light O Lord no matter how
heavy. This we humbly ask you. Amen. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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