Get Over Yourself | March 2, 2017

March 2, 2017

Have you ever been in the way? For example, when there are way too many people in the kitchen and you are just contributing to the madness and not at all to the cooking or preparation? Or have you ever been the reason for the bottleneck in traffic? Or have you ever refused to admit that you are wrong in an argument? Or have you ever let your pride stand in the way of peace? I have done all of the above and Jesus’ message today is pretty simple: get over yourself!

Most of the times in my life when I have been spiritually destitute, felt far away from God, or unloved in some way have all been a result of my own damn self, my ego, my pride, and my inability to get out of the way and let grace, mercy, and peace flood my soul. This is what picking up my cross means…kill my own pride and independence and replace it with humility and trust in God. Easier said than done, but Lent is really designed to help us get over ourselves and choose the good stuff.

Lastly, Jesus reminds us that we are not meant for THIS world. There are glimpses of heaven all around us if we can just get out of the way to see. Have a blessed day.

Reading 1 DT 30:15-20

Moses said to the people:
"Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Responsorial Psalm PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6

R. (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Verse Before The Gospel MT 4:17

Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gospel LK 9:22-25

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?"