Today’s Gospel is only found in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and out of those three, Luke is the only one who mentions that carrying our cross is to be a daily offering. How fitting then, that we hear this passage the day after Ash Wednesday, when the beginning of Lent presents us with challenges, both new and old, and invites us into deeper communion with Jesus in His suffering and death.
Maybe it’s just me, but Ash Wednesday usually feels a lot like New Years. We make firm resolutions about what we will not do or good things we want to add to our lives during Lent and within the first few days a good many of us are struggling to remember what we should (or should not) be doing. Then we feel guilty when we catch ourselves in mid bite of that brownie, or half way through that burger on a Friday.
“Daily” is an interesting word for Luke to add into this discourse. Notice that Luke doesn’t say: daily during certain liturgical seasons, or, daily if you can. No. He calls us to intentional and constant action throughout Lent, and the other 325 days of the year as well. During Lent, it may be easier to carry our daily crosses as we try to keep our Lenten resolutions. However, I encourage you to use this season to examine how your heart might be changed for the rest of the year as well.
Some of us have large crosses that weigh heavily on us throughout our lives. Others, however, can be small and difficult to identify as a chance to follow Jesus more closely. I can give you an example from my own life. There was a time while I was in college, when my mental health was dangerously bad. Facing that in a way that was safe and practical was a constant cross for me and I felt the daily weight of that struggle. However, now I have a great support system, my dream job, and am planning a wedding. Life often feels perfect and it can be difficult to find where I can daily carry my cross. Those are the days I might choose not to listen to music in the car, and instead say extra prayers of reparation for those who don’t know Christ. Or, as a person who LOVES sleep and struggles to get out of bed, I might get up earlier to make the coffee for my household.
This is the mark of discipleship: choosing acts of charity, big or small, as Christ showed charity to every person he encountered, especially during His Passion. It has been beautiful to see the Lord working in my life once I learned to view my personal crosses as an opportunity that Jesus gives only to me, allowing me to lessen the suffering of His passion by uniting my sufferings to His. I encourage you to use the next 40 days to open your heart to the ways you might embrace old crosses, discover new crosses, and learn to carry them in charity out of love for Christ and His Passion.
Daily Reading
Second Sunday of Lent
Reading I Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall…
Saint of the Day
Second Sunday of Lent
Reading I Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall…