FRIDAY, EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Nah 1:15; 2:2; 3:1-3, 6-7 Ps: Dt 32: 35-36, 39, 41 Mt 16: 24-28
PATH TO OUR ETERNAL HAPPINESS
Today’s liturgy invites us to reflect and examine ourselves. Are we truly followers of Christ as we call ourselves? Jesus clearly states in the Gospel of today, that whoever wants to be His followers must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. For most of us this demand at first glance seems too costly, devoid of all joy and happiness and something we would shirk from embracing wholeheartedly.
Jesus also says in John. 10:10, “He has come to give life and life in abundance.” Believing in Jesus and following Him, will give us ‘life’ and ‘life in fullness!’ And truly so, if we really examine our lives, we will realize that all those moments when we have indulged in our appetites, desires, pleasures were all temporary, lasting but for a moment. It made us hungry for more, but left us with a feeling of emptiness, disappointment, and even guilt. Sometimes, even after knowing this fact of life, that all things pass away, we seldom give up on our choices. We find comfort in gathering just the tiny crumbs that fall from the Masters table, while He awaits us, to sit beside Him and feast at the sumptuous banquet.
So, even though denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, may seem like a criteria for being a follower of Christ, actually they are the requirements for our own wellbeing, for a lasting happiness, peace, freedom and wholeness! And God who loves us more than we can comprehend, desire our good, more than we ourselves do. And so, He does not give up trying to drive home this fact. Like He did in the first reading of today, warning the people to turn back from their evil ways, even threatening them of punishment, which again is a sign of His great mercy, He keeps coming after us, pleading with us to follow Him on the path He treaded and proving to us that it is the only path to our eternal happiness. Saints are those who understand this wisdom of God and gave up their lives for Him, only to receive it in its fullness
Response: It is I who deal death and give life.
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