Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 6, 2025
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
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?”
In today’s gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to deny themselves and take up their crosses. In his day, that certainly meant martyrdom for many disciples. What does it mean for us today?
Jesus is calling us into the way of the kingdom and a new way of being human, especially as outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. In following the way of the kingdom—speaking up for peace and those most vulnerable in our society—we can sometimes experience division between our family members and friends or even face persecution by the powers that rule the world.
A perfect example of this was Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker. She began a community where those most in need could receive food, clothing, shelter, and fellowship. She was also a pacifist who spoke out against the United States’ involvement in war. As a result, the Catholic Worker’s newspaper experienced a wave of cancellations, and she was arrested several times for civil disobedience. Nonetheless, Day never wavered from her pacifist stance.
The text accompanying the Laetare Medal that Notre Dame awarded Day in 1972 embodies this countercultural message—she “comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable virtually all her life.” Whether you agree or disagree with Day’s political stance, no one can say that she didn’t make costly sacrifices, witnessing radically for the love of God and the love of her neighbor. She picked up her cross and followed Jesus.
Cistercian Monk Thomas Merton uses the ideas of “false self” and “true self” to describe what we must examine within ourselves to pick up our crosses effectively: “My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God’s will and God’s love.”
My prayer for this Lenten season is that the Lord gives us the strength to put to death our false selves and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, our true selves. Pick up your cross and follow the Lord.
Prayer
Jesus, my Lord, all too often we define ourselves by what we have or what we do, instead of who we are. All I will have left is me—and you. Oh Jesus, I wish I valued you as much as I value other things or people in my life. During these 40 days let your words change me: “What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?”
Saint of the Day
St. Cadroe of Metz was an international saint—born in Scotland, educated in Ireland, and founder of monasteries in France.
He was born in Scotland about the year 900, and sent to live with an uncle, who had him educated at a monastery in Armagh, Ireland. There, he learned both Latin and Greek, and was known as a bright student. It is said that he read everything that had ever been written at the time.
He returned to Scotland to foster vocations to the priesthood. Later, he felt a call to leave Scotland and to follow God’s promptings as a pilgrim.
He visited shrines in England and landed in London, where he was received by an elderly man. One night, the man woke Cadroe, telling him that the city was burning. Cadroe went outside and raised his arms in prayer. The fire died down, and he became famous when people thanked him for saving the city.
He later took 12 companions to France, where they established a monastery. Cadroe moved between several monasteries after that, restoring faltering communities and building the Church.
St. Cadroe, you saved London from fire—pray for us!