Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:22-25.
Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
No disciple is greater than his master. Jesus told us that we, his disciples, would indeed drink from the same cup as He. Each of us is to follow in our Master's footsteps and carry the cross daily. No two crosses are the same. We each have a cross specially given to us by our Lord - uniquely crafted to allow each of us (if we say 'Thy Will not mine) to be conformed to Christ - in each unique circumstance and station of life.
There is no other path. If I accept Jesus, I accept the cross. And the way of the cross always leads to Golgotha - to Calvary. And just as the Master stumbled and fell along the Via Dolorosa - just as He endured the jeering of the crowds - being spat upon - being beaten by the soldiers - so too our own Via Dolorosa will be marked by suffering, rejection, misunderstanding, and persecution. No disciple is greater than the Master.
And just as the Master lost His life on that hill, so we too are called to lose our own lives. For some of us (for increasing numbers each year), our way will end with the surrender of our lives by the shedding of our blood. For others, our way will end with the surrender of our lives through our acts of willful submission and surrender to the will of God - through the total giving away of ourselves to God - through dying to ourselves moment by moment in service and love to others.
There is no other way - "for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."
How are we to do this? How can I live up to such a great calling?
The Lord has not left us orphans. Through His Church he has provided us countless examples of men and women who have walked the way of the cross. He has given us the examples of His saints who in countless circumstances and every imaginable station in life model the way of the cross for us.
The greatest of these is the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Blessed Mother, who was present at all the major events of Christ's life as well as the early life of His Church. Her life in a most special way mirrors the life of Her Son. She was the first and greatest disciple of our Lord. She is the one closest to our Lord.
The Church has always held her up as a type of itself. Mary is the type of the Church. She is also the type of the individual Christian. Her life shows us what the Divine Plan is for our own - sanctification, a complete participation in the Trinity, resurrection, and eternal glory.
Through her we always arrive at her Son.
So during this Lent we will let our Blessed Mother teach us how to pick up our cross and follow her Son.
O God, in Whose Passion the sword, according to the prophecy of blessed Simeon, pierced through the soul of Mary, the glorious Virgin and Mother, mercifully grant that we, who reverently commemorate her piercing through and her suffering, may, by the interceding glorious merits of all the saints faithfully standing by the Cross, obtain the abundant fruit of Your passion. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
