The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr. Cyril Ortega SVD – Abra
Friday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
If the whole point of the Christian journey is to become Christ-like, if being transformed into a “little Christ” is what it is all about, then following Jesus must not be about me. Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself . . . .”
So, to be what we were intended to be and to do what Jesus asks us to do, we’ve got to forfeit that which is in us that looks out for only us. That sounds like some pretty difficult business. The truth is that most of the time we cannot even help being selfish. At our strongest point and in our greatest deed, we still tend to be self-centered. We still do not have the ability to be like Jesus, to be truly and unselfishly loving.
The hope is that Christ is our ability to do it. He lends that part of himself to us, so that as we are being changed on the inside, he lives through us in our outward acts.
Metaphorical language is being employed here. It is a sort of a riddle. How can one give up something to gain that same something back? More specifically, how can one give up his life in order to gain his life?
If any believer wants to share fully in Christ’s glory when He returns with His angels, then he needs to suffer for Him now. Suffering precedes glory in God’s plan. It did for our Lord and it will for His followers as well. We must give to receive. We must lose to gain.
How can a believer lose his life for Christ’s sake i.e., deny himself and take up his cross? By sharing in our Lord’s sufferings. Peter, the one to whom these remarks were especially addressed later wrote. “But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Pet 4,13). Anytime a believer suffers in order to obey and serve God, he is losing his life that he may gain it.
People may ridicule you because you don’t drink nor do drugs. They may make fun of you at work because you share your faith and because your language is different. Your house and car and possessions won’t be as grand as they could be because you have given sacrificially to the Lord’s work. You will pay more in taxes because, unlike many, you do not cheat. You may give up much if you leave parents and hometown to serve the Lord in other parts of the country or in other countries. You may even be martyred for your testimony.
The world says that you can never have enough. The Word says that if you want to gain a full experience of life you must give up such aspirations. What would it profit if we gain the entire world for a few years and yet lose a full experience of life forever? We can’t take it with us; but we can send it on ahead. We can make regular deposits to our eternal IRA-Internal Revenue Allotment.
One week after Jesus spoke these words, Peter, James, and John saw the Lord transfigure before their eyes. They caught a glimpse of the glory which faithful believers will share more fully than unfaithful believers will.
In order to have a full experience of life now and forever we must willingly give up our lives in service of God. Though it seems paradoxical, to gain we must lose.
Some people heading into eternity can be shortsighted. They fail to think of their destination with its dangers of everlasting destruction. Ignoring their desperate need for forgiveness of their sin through faith in Jesus Christ, they pay no attention to His solemn question, “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mt 16,26).
Are you shortsighted or prepared for eternity? The one who lives solely for this earthly life only will have eternity to regret it.
