Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16, 24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Saving and losing
1. Come. There is a process to living a Christian life. That process means being clear that there’s a direction and a path in your life, and that sooner or later you have to make renunciations. Renunciations are part of our life and our journey. And there are crosses too, those crosses that are tinged with pain and failure, but that are part of our growth. We wouldn’t have learned to walk if we hadn’t fallen; and without sadness we wouldn’t appreciate the moment of joy. That’s why renunciations and sadness are not the problem; the problem lies in tying your life to them, or in reducing it to what you’ve given up and to the pains that you’ve suffered.
2. Find. Life involves a search. Searching for yourself, then searching for what motivates you to live and finally searching for what gives meaning to your existence. It’s discovering the why and what you’re alive for and why you do things. We will always be in search of something, unless you believe you have it all and you see yourself without needs, then that will be a problem.
3. What profit would there be? Self-deception is terrible because it’s like blindfolding ourselves. It’s difficult to help someone who is self-deceived, almost impossible. We deny, suppress, minimize what’s true, while affirming and embellishing what we know to be false. We begin to make ugly things more attractive, and we even accept whatever we have adorned. As a friend of mine would say, “there is nothing clumsier than buying what one sells”. We have the desire to know the truth about ourselves, but at the same time we want to ignore it. I think that we find it difficult to accept the truth about ourselves. But we need people who tell us the truth, about our person and our soul, because there are blind spots that we don’t see. The blind spot is an element that is taught to rally drivers; it’s absolutely necessary to know about it and allow yourself to be helped by the co-driver. When there’s a car very close to yours, you can’t see it in any of the three mirrors of the car. There are things you’re not seeing in your life. So, allow yourself to be helped and open your heart without shame to that kind-hearted person that God has placed by your side. Learn to accept your life just as it is.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
