August 7
Jesus’s
Hour is Coming
Saint
Sixtus II and Companions, Martyrs
and Saint Cajetan, Priest
Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28
Today's Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28 (Jesus’s Hour is
Coming)
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his
life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal
life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my
servant be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Reflection:
Pope Sixtus II was martyred in the year 258,
killed with several of his deacons while he was actually celebrating Mass in
the catacombs. He didn't run. He didn't scatter his people and hide alone. He
kept doing the one thing he was ordained to do, right up until soldiers cut it
short. Saint Cajetan, centuries later, gave up a comfortable legal career to
found a religious order and trust God for every meal, refusing to beg or hold
savings, living the words of today's Gospel almost literally.
That's what it costs to actually take up a cross instead of just wearing one
around your neck. Jesus doesn't say deny yourself a little, on the days it's
convenient. He says deny yourself and follow me, period, and He says it knowing
exactly what it will ask of some of us.
Our Lady stood at the foot of a cross; she didn't run or turn away. She stayed,
because losing her own comfort mattered less to her than not abandoning Him.
Every martyr since has had her example standing behind their own.
You will not likely be asked to die for your faith. But you will be asked,
probably today, to lose some small comfort for it. That's the same cross, just
a smaller size.
What's the small cross you've been setting down instead of carrying? And
have you been given a big Cross to carry, one that weighs you down and makes
your life difficult? Are you asking the Lord to help you carry the weight of
this burden?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
