What is a cross? It is a burden, a responsibility that feels too heavy to carry. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves—to let go of comfort, to carry our cross. 

That’s a hard thing to do. 

As a woman, a wife, and a mother, my cross is the daily responsibilities I carry. Taking care of my family, doing well in my career, and serving in ministry—sometimes it feels like too much. Some days, I feel tired. Some days, I want to set my cross down.

But Jesus shows us a different way. He carried His cross with love. He carried it knowing that His sacrifice would bring life to others. When I remember this, my burdens feel lighter. Gratitude helps me see why I am doing all of this. Love makes the sacrifice worthwhile.

When we deny ourselves, we make space for Jesus to live in us and through us. He gives us the strength to carry our cross with love and joy. 

Mia Bueno (buenos@yahoo.com)

reflect

What do you see as a cross in your life today?

Lord, help me carry my cross with love. Fill my heart with gratitude so I may follow You always. Amen.

Saint Cajetan, priest, pray for us.

Archaeologists estimate that Jerusalem was destroyed about nineteen times. Likewise, sin continues to tear down our lives. With the help of God’s grace and mercy, let us rebuild our relationship with Him. Let us avoid the occasions of sin and block its destructive power. Let us pray for the grace to overcome sin by the power of Jesus’ cross.

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. 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?”

Responsorial Psalm | Deuteronomy 32:35-36, 39, 41

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.” ⁴¹“With vengeance I will repay my foes and requite those who hate me.” (R)

Gospel | Matthew 16:24-28

Our lives are filled with choices, each presenting an opportunity to follow the way of Christ. He calls us to embrace the path of the cross set before us, for it leads to the fullness of God’s grace. In choosing this way, we face life’s challenges with hearts surrendered to Jesus. Let us draw upon the grace He freely offers and live in the victory of His cross.

Gospel Acclamation

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.”

Reflect

“The Way of the Cross alone defeats sin, evil, and death, for it leads to the radiant light of Christ’s resurrection and opens the horizons of a new and fuller life.” (Pope Francis)

Read the Bible in one year! Read 1 MACCABEES 15 - 16 today.

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. 

Even though death for the sake of the Gospel is not necessarily everyone’s call, the saints have discovered many ways to take up their crosses over the centuries. Today, we celebrate one of them—Dominic de Guzman, who, with St. Francis of Assisi, founded mendicant friar congregations. They shunned the wealth and luxury of the Church of their time 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 then powerless to stop them, as their lives no longer reflected the simplicity exemplified by Jesus and called for by the Gospel. Dominic decided to embrace the call to poverty and so began a movement and order of preachers whose lives more fully reflected the truths of the Gospel they preached. His congregation was influential in stemming the rise of many heresies of the time.

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

Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

reflection question

What is your version of “taking up your cross and following Jesus”?

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, that I can focus on the few that matter and so make my witness to Christ all the more obvious and powerful. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ____________________________________