Sparkles of Light (Lk 9:22-25)

23 February 2012, Thursday after Ash Wednesday

 TAKE UP YOUR DAILY CROSS

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?"

Lk 9:22-25

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus giving 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?" This statement seems to be odd for those who were listening to Jesus.  How can someone save his life if he looses it?  And those who lose their life will save it?  What does Jesus mean by this statement?  Moreover, Jesus was telling them that he “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.”  Is he going crazy?  Perhaps those who have “shallow” faith in Jesus might be thinking like this.  However, Jesus’ words are really filled with priceless wisdom.  Jesus is showing us the true way of living our Christian lives.

Perhaps if we ask around from our family and friends what they want in their lives, most of them I think will say that they want to be healthy, happy, enjoy good relationships, have happy healthy children, and have enough money to live comfortably, so they can afford to go on holiday, have a nice home, and so forth.  Who doesn’t want to have these, right?  However, Jesus is challenging us.  He invites us to follow his path that we deny ourselves with the inducement of this world and carry courageously our cross and follow him.  Jesus is not also saying that we should turn and leave everything, our dreams, our wishes, and our desires.  No.  Definitely not.  Jesus is simply saying that we should learn to deny ourselves by learning to go beyond ourselves, to be contented with what we receive, and to give ourselves for Jesus and others.  However, for many of us denying ourselves is difficult to do like as big as forgiving somebody who has wronged you or abstaining from the little things you enjoy in life.  Yet this is the meaning of carrying our cross daily.           

By carrying our cross, despite that it may be difficult or heavy, Jesus promised us that he is with us.  Jesus is helping us carry whatever cross that we have.  When Jesus was carrying the cross towards Calvary his cross became a sign of suffering and intense pain.  However, it is the same cross that became the sign of Triumph and Salvation for all of us.  What is the cross that you are carrying right now?  Open your hearts and humbly ask Jesus to help you carry your Cross.

The Lenten season is a good opportunity for us to grow in our relationship with Jesus as well as learning to carry our daily cross and deny ourselves.  That is why many of our brothers and sisters will usually have their Lenten plans and resolutions. Some give up sweets or alcohol, others may forgo watching TV. Some will do almsgiving like donating food, toys, and other means to charity, becoming involved in charitable work with the Church, or helping out at the home for the aged or a children’s hospital.

But, through God’s grace, hopefully we can truly even slowly deny ourselves for it is only when we are truly prepared to stop living life for ourselves, and start living it for Jesus that we truly find life.  That is at the heart of what I think Jesus is calling us to do in this passage.  His call is to stop living life our way, and living it his way, following Jesus by imitating his life and give our lives to others.  May the next days of Lent be a meaningful and fruitful journey of finding oneself and giving oneself as Christ did.