Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
~~~ Isaiah 1:10-17 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~~ Matthew 10:34-11:1 ~~~
Jesus teaches lessons filled with contradictions.
He comes not to bring peace but the sword...
he comes to turn family member against family member...
finally whoever gives a cup of water
to one of the little ones will be rewarded.
Along with all of this comes...
...whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
We each have our crosses to bear.
These crosses are sometimes on-going,
but more often than not
they come and go depending on the circumstances.
Crosses are not supposed to be easy to bear
otherwise they would not be called crosses.
Taking up your personal cross means you first must face it;
you must see it as real.
You must realize that you are not alone.
The person next you must also face their own crosses.
No one is exempt from hardships in this world.
Why would Jesus make taking up one's cross be so important?
Taking up your cross means you must give up your idea of a perfect life.
Rose colored glasses will not help you follow Jesus.
He did not pretend that everything was good and holy;
instead he went about spreading compassion and understanding.
Whatever our wants and desires are must come after
what God wants to be in out life.
If God is above all else in our life
then it follows that we will be called to make sacrifices.
In order to follow Jesus we must realize
that there will be sacrifices all along the journey.
Actually many times following Jesus
means we will find even more crosses along the way.
Jesus says so many times, 'be not afraid'
this also applies when it comes to our crosses.
Jesus wants us to accept our crosses
because that is when he comes to our assistance most perfectly.
When we perceive our life to be 'perfect'
we have a tendency to want to take credit for it ourselves.
We have this bad habit of leaving God out of the picture.
On the other hand when we are facing our crosses...
when we are feeling overwhelmed,
that is when we find ourselves down on our knees.
We fall on our knees in desperation.
We cry out to God for his help and assistance,
even though he was always there.
We do not exist just for the good times, the happy times, or the times of joy.
We exist to accept all that means to be alive.
To be alive means there will be pain and sorrow.
Jesus carried his wooden cross to the place of his death.
He never denied the cross.
He knew it had to be the most important part of his journey.
He could not escape his cross any more than we can.
There is no way to pass through this life without crosses.
To be worthy of Jesus, from his own mouth,
means you must take up your cross.
He will lead you to cool waters...he will give you rest...
he will be your strength and your protection.
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and there will be
no cross too great for you to carry.
Jesus came to show us the way
to the salvation he was winning for us.
If we look only for those parts of the Scriptures that are pleasant to us
then we will miss the whole point of his life and death.
Jesus was sent to do the will of the Father.
We too are sent to die to ourselves and live in the will of the Father.
Taking up your cross is not death,
rather taking up your cross is the key to eternal life.
See if you can begin to view your crosses as blessings.
The burden will certainly be made lighter...
~~~Peace~~~
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