Luke 9:22-25

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

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?”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, your word today contains a mysterious paradox. Somehow, I will live by dying. The world you created for me is beautiful and good in so many ways and yet can be misused and lead me away from you. Help me to live in this world as I should and to use all things for your glory.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Covenant Fidelity and Infidelity: When God makes a covenant with man, there are a series of blessings and curses attached to the covenant. This is recalled in today’s First Reading from Deuteronomy. Moses tells the people that if they are faithful to the covenant – obeying the commandments, loving God, and walking in God’s ways – then God will bless them. If the people are unfaithful – turning their hearts away from God, choosing other gods, and serving other gods – then they will perish. The Lord God has set before the people two paths. One path unleashes the blessings of the covenant – fruitfulness, abundance, prosperity – and leads to life and communion with God. The other way triggers the covenant curses: affliction, economic difficulty, political ruin, exile, and suffering. The curses of the covenant are not just punishments inflicted by God on those who are unfaithful, they are also an attempt by God to correct his children. This means that the first purpose of the covenant curses is to help the people to repent and change their sinful ways. However, if the people choose to persist in their sin, then they continue on the path that leads to death and separation from God.

2. Why are the Faithful Tested? The promise of covenant blessing does not mean that if we are faithful to God and the covenant, our lives will be free of suffering or trial. What Jesus promises today is the opposite: that his authentic and faithful disciples will experience the cross daily. This is one of the greatest mysteries and paradoxes: if we try to keep hold of earthly life, we will lose eternal life; however, if we die to ourselves and this passing world, we will gain eternal life. If we try to avoid our cross, we will lose our lives. If we embrace the cross, we will be saved. Jesus warns us today that it is meaningless to chase after material wealth and seek to gain the whole world. We were made for so much more.

3. Choose Life by Dying to Self: Choosing life means choosing to follow Christ and take up our cross each day. Choosing life means losing our life for Christ and gaining eternal life. In prayer at the beginning of each day, it is good to renew our commitment to choose life. And at the close of each day, we should look back to see when we chose life and when we chose death, when we chose eternal life and when we chose the passing world, and when we chose to love God and our neighbor and when we chose ourselves over others and God.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, your life in many ways was a paradox. You were the king of all creation, yet lived in poverty and had nowhere to lay your head. You were innocent, yet condemned to a shameful death. You were humiliated, yet this was the path that led to your glorification. Your death leads to life for all. Help me today and always to ponder and live this mystery of the paradox of Christian life.

Resolution: How am I called today to die to myself? How am I tempted to choose earthly life over heavenly life?