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March 7, 2019
A Daily Cross is our path to winning!
Within today’s Gospel, there is a verse filled with discomfort. "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23) Another way of saying this discipleship enticing verse could be this: If you want to hang around with Jesus, forget your preferences, agendas, and personal goals. Know that following him is a great hazard harvest of a path. So, let’s go!
True crosses, our path of continuous conversion, are uncomfortable, they bring pain and tears, but we carry them because they lead us to greater love, Jesus. He is and leads us to greater love if we are willing to come back to the cross.
Pope Francis’ remarks on this verse during his Angelus on the 19th of June in 2016: "This is not an ornamental cross or an ideological cross, but it is the cross of life, the cross of one’s duty, the cross of making sacrifices for others with love — for parents, for children, for the family, for friends, and even for enemies — the cross of being ready to be in solidarity with the poor, to strive for justice and peace. In assuming this attitude, these crosses, we always lose something. We must never forget that 'whoever loses his life [for Christ] will save it.' It is losing in order to win."