March 7, 2019 2:20 pm

Good morning,

As we continue this first week of lent, today’s Gospel shows us a great way to begin to look at our daily lives and reflect on those things that might be getting in the way of growing closer to Jesus. The meditation in the Word Among Us says this:

“He must deny himself” (Luke 9:23). Those words might give the impression that following Jesus means living a joyless, austere existence. But God loves you too much to want you to be miserable all the time. Most likely, he is asking you to deny something that’s keeping you from him. Perhaps a hobby or pastime has taken over too much free time. Maybe you need to cut back on your time binge-watching TV or surfing the Internet. Maybe you are too focused on your career, and your prayer life suffers.

Take a few minutes today to examine your life. Where can you deny some earthly treasure in order to grow closer to the real eternal treasure that in Christ has for us.

Have an awesome day!