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

 

Scripture for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today, the Lord Jesus Christ is reminding us that, as His followers, we not only need to place Him in the center of who we are in our lives, but also to expect that our lives will not be easy in doing so. Following Jesus Christ, especially in our day and age, is very much counter cultural. We live in a society that has developed into a very self-centered world, where many people only worry about self-gratification and personal comfort, to the exclusion of those around them. They have no desire to know the love of Jesus for them.

Jesus is calling us to  have him as the center of who we are and to be willing to suffer for being His follower. We should never be ashamed of the fact that we are believers and followers of Jesus Christ. Our Lord, in the gospel, clearly tells us, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38) Jesus Christ is calling us to not to be concerned about what other people may think or feel about our faith in Him. We are to love and embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and to love those that are in our lives.

On the church calendar for today, we commemorate the Seven Founders of the Servite Order. In 1240, seven noblemen of Florence mutually decided to withdraw from the city to a solitary place for prayer and direct service of God. Their initial difficulty was providing for their dependents, since two were still married and two were widowers.

In 1244, under the direction of Saint Peter of Verona, O.P., this small group adopted a religious habit similar to the Dominican habit, choosing to live under the Rule of St. Augustine and adopting the name of the Servants of Mary. The new Order took a form more like that of the mendicant friars than that of the older monastic Orders. Their aim was to lead a life of penance and prayer and eventually attracted others to their order to live out a Christ-centered life.

The Seven Founders of the Servite order took to heart the words of Jesus to pick up their crosses and follow him. They placed their trust in Divine Providence, knowing that God and the Lord Jesus will take care for them. We may not be called to leave our homes to go to a monastery, but we are called to live out our days in penance and prayer, and in service to those in our day-to-day life. It will not always easy to do this, but this is how we are to carry our cross, and to show others that we know and love Jesus Christ as our Savior.