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Gospel: Luke 9:22-25
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?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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These are some of the most famous – and difficult – words spoken by Jesus: “Take up your cross and follow me.”
What’s that mysterious cross he’s referring to?
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The clumsy, awkward, often hard to carry cross called life.
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We might re-interpret Jesus’ words, “Take up your life and follow me.”
Many of us carry the weight of children, marriage, or a difficult job. Others suffer from an illness, care for an aging spouse, or have bills piling up.
Meanwhile, it’s the second day of Lent, so we’ve added the daily practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
We don’t have to add any extra weight to our shoulders in order to please Jesus. We simply can’t shrug it off.
That’s the cross.
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Whatever God has given us to do today, may we do it all – without either complaint or need for praise.
Just take up your life – and all the responsibilities associated with it – and follow him.
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Image credits: (1) Kingdom Virtues (2) Redeemed! (3) LIFE, American TV series, Wikipedia