"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." Lk 9
As I get to know the people better I learn more about their lives, their sorrows as well as joys: suffering both physical and spiritual.
Daily Crosses: disease, worry, poverty, handicaps, career disappointments or setbacks, the medical suffering or even death of a grandchild, unthinkable as it is.
I have seen people stop attending Sunday Mass because they have fallen under the weight of the cross of the death of a son or daughter.
We can lose our faith when we stop carrying our crosses.
This is precisely where Christ seeks to meet us: the darkest most repulsive aspects of our lives. The things we don’t want to talk about, experience, remember. This includes the sinful things we've done and want to forget: these are crosses also.
But where we don’t want to be is precisely where He meets us and leads us to the Father.
Disciple: identity?
Cross: suffer?
Daily: commit?
Follow: goal?
Jesus Christ is the goal: “the way, the truth and the life”. Through with and in Christ we do the Father’s will and seek to join the Father one day in Christ; heaven.
Who do you say that Christ is? It is not our verbal answer to this question but our lives of carrying our cross and following Him that will show the truth to the Lord and to others as to what our answer is.
Your lives will be the answer to that question:
Confession in the case of mortal sin
Receiving the Eucharist always in a state of grace (Confession when in doubt as to whether a sin is venial or mortal)
How else will Christ help you to carry your crosses if you are not in a state of grace? Impossible!
(Luke 9:18-34)
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