Dear Parishioners,

Some years ago, I saw an old bumper sticker. It said, "He who dies with the most toys wins." We spend our efforts pursuing beauty, wealth, power and fame all to increase our comfort in this life. That's the way the world has conditioned us to think.

The honesty of great leaders has always been one of their great characteristics. In the early days of World War II, when Winston Churchill took over the leadership of England, all that he offered his people was "blood, sweat and tears." During the siege of Rome in 1849, Garibaldi, the great Italian patriot, made this famous proclamation: "Soldiers, all our efforts against superior forces have been unavailing. I have nothing to offer you but hunger and thirst, hardship and death. But I call on all who love their country to join with me."

In the Gospel passage that we have for our reflection this week, we see the startling honesty of Jesus: "Whoever wishes to come after me (to enter the Kingdom of God) must deny oneself, take up the cross and follow me." We can never say that we're following Jesus under false pretenses. Jesus never tries to bribe us by the offer of an easy life. Jesus never sought to lure people to Him by the offer of an easy way. He came not to make life easy, but to make us the children of the Kingdom of God and celebrate life eternally.

What does it mean to "take up one's cross?"

It is always voluntary: Jesus calls us and challenges us, but it is our decision. Taking up our cross and following Jesus, is always voluntary. I think that generally we are pretty careless in the way that we talk about it. For example, suppose that after extensive testing the doctor tells me, "You have diabetes, and you'll have to deal with it for the rest of your life." Now that may be a burden that I must bear, but it is not a cross that I have taken up for Jesus. So I can't then tell others, "Well, that's my cross to bear," because I didn't volunteer for it.

And it is an act of love: Taking our cross is not an accident that happens to us, or something unavoidable that we must face. It is a task that we undertake out of love. For Jesus, it meant to die because He loved us so much. He could do nothing else. For us, it means reaching out to people who are in need and taking the love of God to the very ends of the world. It means denying ourselves and making sacrifices.

Following Jesus, we experience: "A love that can never be fathomed; A life that can never die; A peace that can never be understood; A joy that can never be diminished; A hope that can never be disappointed; A glory that can never be clouded; A light that can never be darkened;" The finale of the choice that we make today will be revealed one day standing before God and hear the precious words: "Well done my child, come on in to my Eternal Kingdom."

May God bless us all.

Father Lawrence