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Thursday, July 9, 2020

A Cloistered Brother Reflects on Matthew 20: 17-28





Gus writes a reflection.

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem… Matt. 20: 18

Christ invites us to journey with Him “Going up to Jerusalem.” Wholeheartedly embracing God’s call to obedience, through prayer, fasting, and acts of mercy, as symbols of our repentance, is the way.

Absolution should pave our way towards genuine repentance.  We need to put away the old self of our former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness…  Eph. 4: 22-24.

The apostles didn’t understand what being a disciple entailed.  James and John must have thought “Going Up to Jerusalem” meant going to claim the Messiah’s throne.  Their mother asked Jesus to have them sit next to Him when He came into His kingdom (Matt. 20: 21).  Then the other apostles clamored to sit next to Jesus, too.  (Matt. 20: 24)

Journeying toward the heavenly kingdom impels us to share Jesus’ fate. Every one of the apostles will carry a specific cross.  They all die an ignoble death.

Are you ready for the journey?  

What is your cross?  

Can you follow Jesus all the way up to Jerusalem? 


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