Lenten Season
My dear friends, yesterday, we celebrated the beginning of Lenten period known as Ash Wednesday. We were marked with ashes on our foreheads, calling us to repentance and reminding us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. Lent is a forty-day spiritual journey of prayer, fasting, penance, mortification, and almsgiving in reparation for our sins and that of the whole world. It is a time of preparation for the paschal festivities of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. It is a great time of grace. And we must not miss the opportunity of drawing ourselves closer to heaven and God.
The Life of Jesus/The Suffering Christ
In the gospel today, Jesus speaks about the central events of his passion, death, and resurrection. He made it clear that ‘the Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day’ (Lk 9: 22). This hard saying of Jesus must have been surprising to his disciples as they watched him speak about the hardship, rejection, suffering and death that would befall him. They were taken aback and wondered what that was all about. But Jesus was plain and straight forward in telling them what awaits him as their Master. As if that was not enough, Jesus went on to reveal the same of what is expected of his followers.
The Expectations of the Disciples
Jesus makes a very important statement about his followers. He says: ‘if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me’ (Lk 9:23). That is to say that Jesus also sets the same route of suffering for his followers. In the first place, we must renounce ourselves, take up our cross, not for some days, but every day of our lives to follow him. And to be honest, this is where it is challenging to our generation as they will not accept suffering as an option. They would simply say to Jesus: ‘it is not our portion’.
Yes, they would like to follow him, but not with the cross, just as many have stopped following his commandments because they don’t want the discipline of moral life, but the freedom and pleasure of worldly standard that have watered down the ten commandments in our secular society. Many now set their own rules for Christ to follow and not to follow him. Our generation want to live in absolute freedom. We find it difficult to comprehend how a follower of Christ can be in hardship or suffering while Jesus is a great healer. There is no question of sacrifice any more in our time.
Suffering for Sanctification
The acceptance of suffering is difficult in this generation. All we want is glory. But the truth is that no one passes through this life without suffering or the cross. If there is no cross, there will be no crown nor glory. Suffering is for purification and sanctification. Christ went through it, teaching us an example. He was supported by Simeon during his journey to Calvary. And that is how he shows great support to all his disciples who would accept the route of daily cross or suffering he has proposed. And he would lead them to their perfect destination. That’s the reason he says: ‘anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it’ (Lk 9:24).
When we accept the cross for the sake of Christ in submission to his will, he will certainly not abandon us but would be prepared to give us the crown of glory. If we do not follow him, we gain nothing in this world, of not only temporary pleasures but also the lost of eternal life. But there is hope of everlasting life in the world to come if we follow him with our cross. That is why he queries the gain for a man to win the whole world and ruin his very self (Lk 9: 25). Would it not be better to suffer and gain eternal life as he has promised?
Peace be with you.
