Moses' message to the Israelites and us reaches a decision point when he says, "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse….choose life." What led up to that dichotomous choice was the promise that if the Israelites obeyed God's commandments and walked with God lovingly, they would prosper, as would their future generations.
Moses contrasts this with the result of turning away from God in heart and deed and being led astray to "adore and serve other gods." This path results from a short life, poverty, and loss of land.
Saving Your Life
In the Gospel, Jesus develops this theme of choosing God over false gods and selfish interests. He brings us to a choice of whether to follow Him, someone else, or some other idea. It's hard at times to follow Jesus. But it's the right way.
Jesus tells us, "…whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." There might be a verse that requires the most faith in today's Gospel. How can losing your life for Jesus result in saving it?
The first thing that comes to mind is eternal life in Heaven. To make it to Heaven requires that we follow Jesus' way of life. In this Gospel, Jesus tells us, "…whoever wishes to come after me…must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
Pick Up Your Cross
The denial of self, picking up our crosses (our burdens) daily, and following Jesus causes us to lose our lives as we might be tempted to live. It's by giving over our selfish desires and pushing through our fears, pain, and discouragement in following Jesus that causes us to lose our current lives—to save our lives for eternity.
Yesterday, I held an Ash Wednesday service for a group of elders. In my homily, I mentioned the two prayers used with the distribution of Ashes: "Repent and believe in the Gospel" and "Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return."
One woman said, "Oh, Father, I like the first one because it is so hope-filled…the other is discouraging.
In this woman's heart, she was encouraged by God's message to repent and believe in the Gospel because, as she said, it leads to everlasting life.
Lenten Profits
The last line of the Gospel is also one we can hold onto when faced with a difficult decision, whether it is moral, ethical, or our attitudes. Whenever we struggle, we can return to Jesus' question: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?" Implied in that question is by following Jesus, we retain or, at times, rediscover our true selves made in the image of God.
My brothers and sisters, let us pray for our families, ourselves, and one another to follow Jesus today by denying ourselves when it comes to things that go against Jesus' way, and let us pray for and help one another carry our crosses (our burdens) in true imitation of Christ.
May God bless you and your families this holy day!
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