Monday, 15th Wk Ord Time: "I have come to bring not peace"

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

-- Mt 10:34-11:1

The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:

He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.

-- CCC 2015

(Photo by author: Christ offers Himself as the Way of perfection through His death on the Cross and His Resurrection in every holy Mass. Visit A Priest Life to view a pictorial guide to offering holy Mass in the hermeneutic of continuity. Special thanks to Father Charles Johnson.)