Word to the Wise
Friday, August 5, 2016 - Friday in the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
[Nah 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 and Matt 16:24-28]FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2016. FRIDAY IN THE 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 and Matthew 16:24-28] "Whoever wishes to come afterwards 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. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?" There is a popular expression that is used when someone seems to be worried about something unimportant: "Get a life!" A couple of years ago I attended a wonderful lecture by Jesuit brother Guy Consolmagno SJ at the University of Arizona. He is the director of the Vatican observatory. His lecture was on how one could determine the meaning of "life" and its origins. I came away realizing that the word "life" like the word "love" can mean many things! So, when I read the gospel scripture for today, I realize that the richness of the word "life" is included in Jesus' words. And those words are very challenging because the "life" he is asking us to "get" can mean taking up a cross, and the life he is asking us to "lose" means attachment to a great many relatively unimportant things that our society and culture considers important! We are being asked to redefine our "life" and re-examine what we consider "profit." That can make for serious summer reflection. AMEN