“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” – Matthew 16:24

I didn’t want to be a burden to my sisters in my old age so I began investing regularly in a mutual fund and the stock market. I had also tucked away a few months’ worth of emergency money. I was growing confident that I would have a few millions when I retire.

       But a call for help came. I volunteered to shoulder my youngest nephew’s tuition fees and daily allowances.

       In the beginning, it was easy. But after a few months, it was becoming harder to sustain and my only option was to redeem part of my mutual fund investment.

       I was torn between thinking of my future need and my nephew’s present need.

       My heart was telling me to give and trust that the Lord will take care of my tomorrows. But practicality was getting in the way. So I prayed. The answer came in the form of a priest’s reflection in Sabbath (Scripture Meditations for Daily Life), which I was editing at that time. He wrote, “There is always urgency in reaching out to those in need.”

       Even Jesus defied the revered Sabbath law to heal a sick man. I can only follow in His steps. Tess V. Atienza (svp_tvatienza@yahoo.com)

Reflection: When you are torn between two situations, what is the greater call?

Lord, may I always learn to listen to Your call in my heart and do what is most pleasing to You.

St. Dominic, priest, pray for us.

Today’s feast of St. Dominic is a good time to remember the role of Scriptures in our lives. Being a great preacher, Dominic spent a lot of time studying and meditating upon the Scriptures. There are TV shows devoted to bringing us up to date with all the gossip in the entertainment world, sports, politics and so on. Do we spend as much time deepening our understanding of the Word of God? The Word of God is going to help us live a good life more than any of those things.

1 See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed. 2 [3] The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob, the pride of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined the tendrils. 3: 1 Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops! 2 The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding, 3 cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon! 6 I will cast filth upon you, disgrace you and put you to shame; 7 till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, “Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?”

R: It is I who deal death and give life.

35 Close at hand is the day of their disaster and their doom is rushing upon them! 36 Surely, the Lord shall do justice for his people; on his servants he shall have pity. (R) 39 “Learn then that I, I alone, am God, and there is no god besides me. It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them. (R) 41 I will sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver. With vengeance I will repay my foes and requite those who hate me.” (R)

The saints are wonderful examples of what it means to take up our crosses and follow Jesus. It will never be the same for two people but we can draw inspiration and strength from other people’s faith journeys. Let us be inspired by Dominic’s desire to live a simple life in order to strengthen the power of his preaching. Let us be honest with ourselves and ensure that we do not avoid the difficult decisions of our life for fear of embracing the cross.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

24 Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. 28 Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

think:  Let us be honest with ourselves and ensure that we do not avoid the difficult decisions of our life for fear of embracing the cross.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 2 Maccabees 1-2

TAKING UP OUR CROSSES

The image of taking up one’s cross and following in the footsteps of Jesus is a very strong one in the Gospel. Embracing death for the sake of the Gospel was relatively prevalent in the first few centuries of the life of the Church. The number of men and women who were martyred in those centuries is enormous. The depth of faith of the Church, as measured by the commitment of its members, was great.

       Even though death for the sake of the Gospel is not necessarily everyone’s call, the saints have discovered many ways to embrace the call of taking up their crosses over the centuries since. Today, we celebrate one of them, Dominic de Guzman, who, with St. Francis of Assisi, founded mendicant friar congregations that witnessed to the gift of poverty as part of the call to follow Jesus. They shunned the wealth and luxury of the Church of their day and returned to the roots of poverty and simplicity in order to discover a new and powerful way of proclaiming the Gospel.

       Dominic was appalled at the way heresies were causing men and women to leave the Church in droves. The bishops and priests were powerless to stop them as their lives no longer reflected the simplicity of that of Jesus and the Gospel. He decided to embrace the call to poverty and so began a movement and order of preachers whose lives reflected more fully the truths of the Gospel. It was not an easy task, but his congregation was very influential in stemming the rise of many heresies of their time.

       Francis’ way of life was probably even simpler than Dominic’s, thus witnessing to the truth that joy is not found in human possessions or earthly powers and pleasures, but in living the Gospel as simply as possible. It was a watershed moment in the life of the Church and one that was to shape Her spirituality up to the present day. People are still inspired by these two simple saints who simply took up their crosses and followed in the footsteps of Jesus as best they could. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Who is your favorite saint? How does his or her life inspire you?

Jesus, You lived a simple life in obedience to Your Father’s will. Help me to cut away all the unnecessary things in my life so that I can focus on the few that matter and so make my witness to Christ all the more obvious and powerful.