Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation ,the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." He also said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."
REFLECTION
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For the love of His creatures and creation, God Himself took our flesh and blood, was humiliated, suffered, mistreated and put to death. " Nothing great is done without suffering and humiliation and that all things are possible by means of it." (Everyday Meditations, St John Henry Newman)
I would prefer comfort and no trials, but to follow Jesus, the Lord demands that I must deny myself and take up my cross. Small incremental loss of our pride and ego-centric ideas can begin at home, growing stronger as we persevere.
For starters, clean out closets and drawers giving away the plenty and that which we do not need. No hoarding. Work on self-giving love, praying and praising God, praying not only for our family but the family of others. Share your talents, make time to catch up with the infirmed and the lonely. Pray for His priests. Forget ourselves, focus on God.
In turn, answer the call to be His disciple. Invite the Holy Spirit to work in us and show us the way to follow Jesus. Be open to His promptings. Offer all that happens and our difficulties to God.
Remember that we are in the hands of a loving and wise Father, who will show us how to return good for evil. Let Him dress us in the robe of grace, merited only through the Cross of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior.
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