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take up your cross and follow me

Fr. Tom Konopka
Feb 19
2 min read

When I was reading a commentary on this morning Gospel on the Logos website, I was reminded of something I heard at a Scripture workshop years ago. The presenter reminded us that before we prepare for a homily to spend time putting ourselves in the place of the person who was hearing or reading the text for the first time at the time it was written. She mentioned that we have to take the lens of Resurrection off the Hebrew Scriptures to capture their true essence. This is not say we never see them in light of Christ, but, to plumb their depths we begin in a new place. I also suggest this method when reading the New Testament and know the population who was either hearing or reading the message.

For example, to read the prophet Amos, and hear how blunt he was to people of the Northern Kingdom prior to Exile and destruction of the Kingdom, We need to know something about the people and the reasons why he spoke this way. If I was merchant at the time of Amos and he came and spoke to me that I was more concerned about the bottom line of my business than the needs of the poor, widow, orphan, and alien (those the Law mandated to be taken care of), I would either be angry at Amos or shocked into changing my life. Once that depth is plumbed, then we can bring in the message of Jesus and our contemporary world.

The commentary I read about “take up your Cross and follow me” this morning stated that we have watered down the meaning of this passage by equating it only with our personal suffering. The authors reminded me that what people heard around Jesus was that to follow him literally meant that they would be forced to pick up a heavy Cross, drag it to a place of execution, and die on it, just like him. What a sobering thought! For the people of Jesus’ time and the first years of the church, unlike ours, this was real possibility to publicly profess in him. What a profound statement, testimony, and act of faith. Many walked away but many stayed.

So, this Thursday after Ash Wednesday, the path is being laid out for each of us:

1. Am I willing to radically commit my life to the person of Jesus?

2. Will I carry my cross as boldly as the martyrs of the faith did?

3. Do I choose Jesus as my Lord and Savior, no matter what is happening in my life?

Gospel reading from Thursday after Ash Wednesday Luke 9/22-26

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