Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time/ August 07, 2020

Gospel: Matthew 16: 24-28

Friends, the Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel said to His Disciples; ‘whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Our professor Priest Fr. Jun, would always remind us that being a disciple (Gk. Mathetes/ L. Discipulus – “learner”) of Christ, one is demanded (Must)to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus’ footsteps. Denial of oneself means disassociating himself (aparneomai) from his self-interest to serve a higher purpose. This is not to deny one’s personality, good traits, virtues, or even any withdrawing from the world. Yet, this is a denial of one’s self-ego, self-centeredness, and self-interests. This is a renouncing…