In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Mark 8:34-38; 9:1
The Lord said: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
Today, on this third Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, the Church celebrates the precious and life-giving Cross. And in our Gospel today, our Lord tells us that those who wish to follow Him must deny themselves and take up their cross. We may usefully recall here what Jesus said elsewhere in the Gospels about those who cry ‘Lord, Lord,’ to whom He will reply on the dayofjudgment ‘truly, I tell you that I never knew you.’ It is not enough to claim to follow Christ; one must actually do so.
Doing so, of course, means following His commandments. These we find in the moral law of the Old Testament and the teaching of Christ that is contained in the New Testament. Also, as the Church has never accepted the relatively recent idea of sola scriptura, we must look to the teaching that we have in Holy Tradition.
In order to follow these commandments, we must deny ourselves, we must practice self-denial. The Church Fathers explain how we are to go about this. They tell us that we must deal with our physical selves as if we were somebody else, such as a child; and look upon our will as if it were a parent, the person charged with raising the child correctly.
A good parent, of course, will provide their children with a disciplined life. They will make them go to bed at a proper time, give them healthy food and make sure they eat it, provide them with a good education, teach them proper values, and so on. All the things necessary so that the child may grow into a responsible adult.
The bad parent does none of this. Their children are indulged and spoiled. Their every whim rules their upbringing; and poor indeed is the foundation that has been laid upon which they are to build their future life.
Why does this matter when it comes to our spiritual lives? We must remember here what or Lord said: ‘For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?’ Great wealth is of no use if you die attaining it; and the Fathers point out that the life Christ is speaking of here is eternal life, our very souls.
Most of us, of course, will never become wealthy, even in a modest way. But even if we do, what of it? Even if you became the richest person on the planet, and having attained that wealth, enjoyed many years, perhaps even one hundred, with that wealth, what of it? Even a thousand lifetimes is nothing in the face of eternity. And it is eternity that we may gain if we we are truly disciples of Christ. But we only become His disciples if we deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him. Amen.
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