Thursday after Ash Wednesday

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?

The paradox of living a life of love is we must give ourselves away in order to increase in the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. We must risk losing everything for love of others, because those worldly things we cling to become anchors around our necks keeping us looking at the earth and not the heavens. We are not profited by those things which keep us from doing God’s Will with our whole hearts. We must be willing to lose our selfish lives and thereby win our place at the Heavenly Banquet. Jesus shows us throughout the Gospels how to sacrifice in great and small things and the least we can do is to repay Him by offering him everything we have.

Are there things in our lives which keep us from fixing our lives upon heavenly things? Are we willing to sacrifice everything we have for God, especially those things that do not lead us closer to Him? Are we willing to risk all we have to do God’s Will?

O Lord, help us to lose our lives for your sake.

Amen.