Friday, February 21, 2003
6^th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Gen 11:1-9
Gospel: Mk 8:34-9:1

Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, “If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it.

“What good is it to gain the whole world but destroy yourself? There is nothing you can give to recover your life. I tell you: If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

And he went on to say, “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.”

Gospel Commentary

The profound meaning of these words of Jesus usually escapes us. What does it mean to lose one’s life for the Gospel and for Jesus’ sake? The essential thing in life is its deep orientation: Is it our self-interest at the service of “our world,” or the interests for which Christ came to promote “God’s world and that of others?” To lose our life is to redirect it in this second direction; we lose our egoistic life in order to gain a life of fellowship.

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