“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Four times in the opening chapters of his gospel, Saint Luke told us of Mary’s contemplation. She wondered what the angel’s greeting meant. She hurried thoughtfully to Jerusalem. She pondered the birth of Jesus and the shepherds’ visit. She kept all these things in her heart. Throughout the years of Jesus’ childhood the First Disciple meditated on this wonderful child -- daily.
Surely all parents feel the invitation to contemplate their children’s lives. It comes with urgency. She will never lose her first tooth again. He will never capture his first grasshopper again. Did you notice when it happened? Mary did.
As intensifying technologies overwhelm our minds with more and more critical information, demanding ever faster decisions, the suggestion that "We should stop and think it over" or "Let's sleep on it” seems sheer madness. There’s no time for that!
And yet grace insists that we must live each day as it comes, thoughtfully, gratefully, wisely and with appreciation. There will never be another day like today. There will never be a better day than today. Now is the only time we have.
Daily in this Gospel passage means that the crosses we often have to bear are not the overwhelming disasters. True, there are many of them in our lives. They are too heavy to carry, but they don't come daily.
Our daily crosses are the little aggravations that turn simple tasks into major chores. I get everything together and walk out to the car and search my pockets and I left my car keys in the house, which I locked behind me. I tell my old friend again how to send an email. I clean up again after somebody else.
Can I remember that as I make small sacrifices for others, they are making small sacrifices for me? We're all in this together and we continually help each other, and usually with neither thanks nor recognition.
Can we bear those crosses gracefully? Can we keep breathing softly through them all, confident that, in eternity, they really won’t matter? If we can, when the big crosses fall on us, we’ll be ready to let God handle them too.
Happy Fathers Day
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.