Luke 9:18-25

May we begin this reflection, and all aspects of our lives in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

The Gospels are filled with reversals of expectation.  Today’s Gospel in Luke brings to light the reversals surrounding the expectation of who is the Christ, or what the Messiah will do.  Seasonally, we are at the beginning of our Lenten journey, but Luke tells us Jesus already foreshadows the impending work of Salvation upon the Cross, placing the end at Good Friday in our minds. 

We live in the realm of a binding together of the beginning and end.  We cannot appreciate the significance of earnestly beginning our own forty-day journey of personal sacrifice without connecting to the sacrifice our Messiah embraces for us.  Thus, the conclusion of the season on Good Friday and each day are held delicately in tandem with one another.  Likewise, the finality of Good Friday is also held close to the joy of the Resurrection at Easter.  Together, both ends, now and what is to come, help us to appreciate the meaning of the other.  In the same way when we put our left hand and right hand together in prayer for a meaningful experience, we also put together the beginning of Lent with the end of Lent to fully appreciate this penitential season.

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus foretells of the betrayal by the religious institution, His death, and His Resurrection.  He knows the sacrifice He is to provide.  I could only imagine how the disciples heard this and focused immediately on the well-being of their Teacher and Messiah.  Yet, Jesus turns the focus upon his faithful followers, and to us.  He says: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  [Lk 9:23]  Two points stand out from this switch in conversation. 

First, Jesus tells the disciples to ‘deny themselves’ so that they will not ‘forfeit themselves.’  [Lk 9;23, 25]  To deny ourselves is to put aside those desires of the world that keep us from freely walking in our Messiah’s footsteps.  This is the heart of the tradition of ‘giving up’ something for Lent.  When we give up a favorite dessert, we learn commitment through the discomfort of the absence of a favorable food.  If we give up a habit, we persevere in adjusting our patterns of living, preparing ourselves for the changes the Christ will nudge us into.  This ‘giving up’ is a practice of sacrifice which enhances our awareness of what separates ‘needs’ from ‘wants.’  Those ‘wants’ which are simply earthly desires are burdens to the soul.  The more we have, the less fulfilled we feel.  The less we have, the more we allow space for Jesus to fill.

Second, I could only imagine what the disciples were thinking when Jesus said to them: “If any want to become my followers…” [Lk 9:23]  The disciples must have been a bit caught off guard, thinking to themselves that they already were followers.  After all, they were called his ‘disciples.’  Jesus is naming the challenge in what it means to be a Christian, a follower of the Messiah.  The reality is that our Baptismal Covenant is not fulfilled completely in our Baptism.  Rather, it sets us on a path with vows that commit us to a pattern of living, each and every day.  Similarly, the disciples are only disciples if they strive in that role constantly, each day.  The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that people can only be ascribed characteristics that they demonstrate, known by the adage: ‘you are what you do.’  To remain faithful followers, I pray this time in Lent helps us, as Saint Paul says, to “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, [and] persevere in prayer.” [Romans 12:12] 

As we renew our commitment to faith in prayer this Lent, I pray that among the things we ‘give up’ include the weight and sin that keeps us from fully embracing our relationship with God and one another.  Again, hearing Saint Paul’s words: “let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” [Heb. 12:1]

Meditation by the Very Reverend Michael Panzarella
Priest-in-Charge, Grace-St. Paul’s, Mercerville and Holy Apostles, Yardville
Diocese of New Jersey