A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Jesus said to his disciples: “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?”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents his disciples with a paradox—a seemingly contradictory teaching that describes a spiritual truth: to lose your life in following Christ is to save it. Another paradox: to deny yourself in taking up your cross is to find in Christ your true identity. Doing this daily can feel like driving on the wrong side of the street to reach a destination; it’s counterintuitive. What can I do today to drop a seemingly vital action for the sake of taking up my cross? And in taking up my cross daily, I have the hope of gaining new life in Christ. Do I hold that truth in my heart?
God, in recognizing that I easily become discouraged when clinging to my own ways, I want to understand how self-denial leads me on a path toward following you. What am I clutching in fear that would seem to spell disaster when letting go of it? If there is not one big thing I can think of, please give me the grace to identify something I can forgo that instinct seems to say is vital. God, let me desire not to gain a greater share of the world today but to lose that share for the sake of saving my life through Christ. Let me come to know the hope that springs from letting go and allowing you to lead me. Saint Polycarp, martyr of the faith, pray for us!
Thank you, Lord, for the gifts of intellect and will that lead me to know and choose you. Make yourself known to me today!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.