Take up your cross

Luke 9: 22- 25

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me....

Today we celebrate the first day of the lunar new year. And we greet each other with words that speak of 'prosperity and happiness'. And today too, in our spiritual life we hear about Jesus living in the shadow of the cross and speaking to his disciples about the folly and contradiction of the cross in the life of all disciples.

Indeed, there is a contradiction if we accept the definition of a 'blessed' life as one of 'prosperity and happiness'. That is only one part, a small part of the whole story. What we think is wise turns out to be foolish. What we value as important may really be as dust in God's measure. What we 'lose' our lives on - the accumulation of wealth and possessions may be really a 'loss' in the kingdom of our Lord!

This is hard stuff to consider on this culturally 'auspicious' day! But perhaps it is timely as well, for we tend to be forgetful of the real stuff of life, when we begin feasting. It may be a good time, as we thank God for the many blessings, to also look at reality through the heart and mind of Jesus, the One who endured the Cross for our sakes. We are surely grateful for the benefits received from Jesus' sacrifice.....but the depth of our gratitude will increase when we carefully consider what such sacrifice entailed. Today I read in "The wounds of Jesus" the following:

"We cannot imagine what it was like for someone who had, in the course of his work, often carried heavy pieces of wood on his shoulders now to have thrust upon him a roughly hewn plank or tree which cut into every exposed wound".

Jesus' challenging words about "taking up our cross" gain so much more weight when I reflect on them in light of his sufferings.