Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us “whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me”. This is a challenging Gospel to take to heart! There are many difficulties and challenges in life and it is worth reflecting on what are the crosses that God is asking you to carry today and in general. What is even more interesting is that there are ways in which we can choose to not carry our cross, ways that we can reject God, reject love and choose ourselves. It seems that there are many things in life that we cannot change and things we did not choose. Many of our difficulties are out of our control. However, God reminds us that we will have a choice - maybe not in what our cross will be, but in how we respond to it. Will we choose to carry our cross? Or will we reject, deny, ignore, hide or run away? Do we see suffering as the ultimate evil or do we see separation from God as the ultimate evil?

There will be seasons of our lives where the cross that God is asking us to carry is abundantly clear. There will also be seasons where it may not be so clear. Rather than succumb to fear or apprehension about our crosses, let’s choose to always acknowledge God’s presence with us and ask Him how He wants us to love today. What does love look like in your life right now?

I am struck by the contrast of the responsorial psalm: “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord”, with the gravity of the Gospel passage. Despite the reflection on dying to sin and taking up our crosses, we all come together to sing of God’s goodness. Ultimately, God knows what is best for us. He loves us and is always with us. His goodness always radiates even in life’s toughest moments. The readings today reflect the disposition of our hearts when faced with a challenge or difficulty in life. Although we may not feel like praising God, we have to rely on our faith in God’s goodness. Here in this life, we only see a small fraction of how God is working in our lives and in our world. As beloved sons and daughters of an all good and all powerful God, we trust in the guidance and protection of our Heavenly Father.

Let us ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we reflect on the crosses we are being asked to carry and the grace to always praise the goodness of God in every moment.

Amy Burghardt
Development Manager