The Cross--Mine, Yours, Ours
"If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me." ~ Luke 9:23
The title of this blog and the entry are from a book I recently finished called Gathering the Fragments: A Gospel Mosaic by Rev. Edward Farrell. The book is good but this particular chapter was, in my opinion, worth sharing. Here goes and thanks to Rev. Farrell for a chapter that was so important to me. Hope any readers of this blog find it insightful, also. Here goes:
The heart of Christianity is a cross, the sign of a love unto death, and beyond into resurrection. I am beginning to understand that there is no way of following Jesus except by undergoing what he underwent. Unless I die, I can never bear fruit.
No one in this world can escape suffering, but not all suffering is the cross. Suffering cannot be avoided, but one can escape the cross. The cross must be a choice, a free decision, or it is not the sign of Jesus' love. The cross is an invitation; each person must say yes. No one becomes a disciple without saying yes to Jesus taking us, blessing us, breaking us open, and passing us around.
Simone Weil wrote,
Love is a diving thing If it enters the human heart, it breaks it. The human heart was created in order to be broken this way. It is the saddest waste if it is broken by anything else, but it prefers to be broken by anything rather than by divine love. Divine love breaks only those hearts which consent to be broken and this consent is difficult to give.
To be Christian, to be disciples, we must deliberately choose to be broken. To embrace Him is to embrace the cross. The consequence of following Jesus is to carry to cross for oneself, for others, for the world.
Sometimes we need to reflect on these crosses we carry in our world. They are not always as obvious as the wooden cross Jesus carried to Calvary.
The cross of discipleship--
The title of this blog and the entry are from a book I recently finished called Gathering the Fragments: A Gospel Mosaic by Rev. Edward Farrell. The book is good but this particular chapter was, in my opinion, worth sharing. Here goes and thanks to Rev. Farrell for a chapter that was so important to me. Hope any readers of this blog find it insightful, also. Here goes:
The heart of Christianity is a cross, the sign of a love unto death, and beyond into resurrection. I am beginning to understand that there is no way of following Jesus except by undergoing what he underwent. Unless I die, I can never bear fruit.
No one in this world can escape suffering, but not all suffering is the cross. Suffering cannot be avoided, but one can escape the cross. The cross must be a choice, a free decision, or it is not the sign of Jesus' love. The cross is an invitation; each person must say yes. No one becomes a disciple without saying yes to Jesus taking us, blessing us, breaking us open, and passing us around.
Simone Weil wrote,
Love is a diving thing If it enters the human heart, it breaks it. The human heart was created in order to be broken this way. It is the saddest waste if it is broken by anything else, but it prefers to be broken by anything rather than by divine love. Divine love breaks only those hearts which consent to be broken and this consent is difficult to give.
To be Christian, to be disciples, we must deliberately choose to be broken. To embrace Him is to embrace the cross. The consequence of following Jesus is to carry to cross for oneself, for others, for the world.
Sometimes we need to reflect on these crosses we carry in our world. They are not always as obvious as the wooden cross Jesus carried to Calvary.
The cross of discipleship--
- inward struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil
- wrestling with laziness and inertia
- so easy to take the less difficult path
- so comfortable to join the crowd, to do what everyone else is doing.
- to inner vocation
- to hidden grace
- to unused talent
- to making decisions
- to saying yes or no
- taking the initiative of leadership
- giving of one's self to others
The cross of caring--
- involvement
- listening
- generosity
- those who turn to us
- those we would like to turn away from
- racism
- war
- poverty
- fear
- violence
- nuclear threat
In the name of the Father...
I touch my hand to my head, recognizing that I share in the very intelligence of the Father, who is loving me into existence at this very moment; the Father who draws me into eternal truth and ultimate values through his eternal wisdom and order in all creation; his personal providence in my life calling me by name and giving me my daily bread.
and of the Son...
I touch my hand to my heart, remembering Jesus' promise that he will take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh--knowing that he has a human heart always inviting me to learn from him, for he is gentle and humble of heart, forgiving my sins and asking me to be his healing presence for others.
and of the Holy Spirit...
I touch my shoulders leading to my hands asking the Spirit to energize my whole body and being, that I dare to believe and hope that God's power working in me can do infinitely more than I can ask or imagine.
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