Today’s Gospel
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16:24-28.
Then 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 everyone 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.”
This is the true challenge of living the Gospel, which I struggle with daily. Not only denying myself, but doing so happily and in a way which allows me to continue to be able to perform my duties as wife and mother. It almost seems an impossible synchronicity. There are many ways in which I can deny myself willingly as part and parcel of what is required of a good wife and mother. Is that enough? I feel I need to keep stretching this concept, going further, becoming more selfless, yet I feel I never quite meet the threshold of what I imagine to be true Christian self-denial. Much of my life is set up to serve my own self-interest. Today’s society neither offers much instruction, nor even encouragement, sadly not even within many local parishes.
How have you found ways to stretch your ability to deny yourself happily? Who can you relate to as a wonderful example of self-denial?
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