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

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not an easy way of life. Jesus is calling us to place Him and His teachings at the center of who we are. Following Jesus means that we will face hardships and difficulties in our lives since other people in our lives may not fully understand why we are attempting to live out a Christian life.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He taught His followers that the commandments are summed up in this way: love God with your whole mind, heart and soul and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And how do we carry this command of love of God and love of neighbor out in our day-to-day life?

In the gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 25, where Jesus teaches on the final Judgement, he gives a list of what’s to be expected of those who claim to be his followers. “I was hungry, and you gave me food.” “I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink.” “I was naked, and you gave me clothing.” “I was in prison and you visited me.” In all these examples of helping other people, our Lord is teaching us that what we do for others, we are doing for him. Seeing Jesus in other people is not always easy. Human nature being what it is, it’s sometimes hard to deal with people we don’t like. But by doing these good deeds to other people is where we carry our cross. Doing good to people, especially when it’s not convenient or easy, can be difficult. But that’s where we deny ourselves and pick up our cross: by seeing Christ in everyone that we meet, and in this way, we are loving God with our whole being.

Pope Francis is quoted as saying, “Works of love directed to one's neighbor are the most perfect external manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit….” Let us pick up our crosses daily by loving God and loving our neighbors.