Gospel Reading for March 06, 2025 – Luke 9: 22-25
REDEMPTIVE AND NOT DESTRUCTIVE
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?”
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Come to think of it – did Jesus really have to suffer in order to save us? Was there no other way?
If we ponder deeply on the Paschal Mystery, we will realize that there was no other way. Suffering came into the world when good and evil clashed. When the first humans went against God, they gave the devil a leeway to inject evil in this beautiful world that God created for us. Since then, the battle between good and evil became a daily fare, and evil could no longer be eliminated. And God, who is OMNISCIENT knew the best thing to do – send his only Son to become one of us, experience the life of human beings and made suffering a positive thing, something REDEMPTIVE AND NOT DESTRUCTIVE. The best thing was that suffering and death for Christ had a crowning glory in his Resurrection. Jesus promises us the same – “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25). In conclusion, God still wins. Good prevails over evil.
May this season of Lent help us renew our relationship with God!
