Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

Gospel Reading: 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.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus asks us a very simple questions – “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”  When Jesus talks about life, He is referring to our earthly life but to our eternal life.  The life we will spend either enjoined with our Father in Heaven or in the solitude of Hell.  To be a true disciple of Christ, you must be able to deny oneself. To deny oneself is to disown oneself as the center of one's existence. A condition for true discipleship is the readiness to follow Jesus even to the point of giving up one's own life for Christ. We must be willing to completely sacrifice everything that we own if we are to make it to heaven. Jesus tells us that whatever offering we make on earth will be repaid at the final judgment. It would be ashamed to get to the toll booth to heaven and not have enough money to enter through the gate.

We must realize that everything we own, everything that we have is a gift from God. Nothing that we have, our gifts, our talents or our riches is due to us but due to the grace of God. To be truly appreciative of those gifts, we must be willing to give up every single possession that we have for his mercy. Some may argue that they cannot afford to give up their money, or their other treasures because they mean too much to them. Christ says if you’re not willing to give up your earthly treasures, then you will forfeit your eternal life with God. We will be repaid according to our conduct. Do you make offers to the church? Do you give of your time and your talent? Or do you hoard these things for yourself. The treasures we build on earth could become the road block that keep us from experiencing the glory of God our Father in heaven. If we build the wall too high, we will never be able to get over to the other side.

A Simple Prayer

Lord Jesus, you gave the ultimate sacrifice, you suffered and dies for our sins.

Give me the strength to take up my cross and follow you.

Give me the strength to release my earthly treasures for the kingdom of God.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon