The Holy Prophet Joel; the Holy Martyr Varus (307); Our Venerable Father John of Rila (946)
Colossians 2:20-3:3; Luke 9:23-27
Read Luke 9:23-27
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Today the gospel reminds us of the cost of being a true follower of Jesus. We need to deny ourselves, take up our cross every day, and follow Him. Just as Jesus was willing to sacrifice His life for us on the cross, we need to be willing to sacrifice our life for His sake. The lives we were gifted by God are not our own, and we do not know how long they will last. Our task is to continually offer ourselves and “commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God,” as we do at each Divine Liturgy.
God in His goodness provides us with the materials we need for life: sun, water, wheat, grapes, and so much more. By the work of our hands, we transform these materials into bread and wine which we then offer back to God at the Divine Liturgy. Our gifts are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and are returned as a most precious Gift for us: the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Just like how we make bread and wine out of the materials God so generously gives to us, we transform the lives we have been given through repentance. We cooperate with God’s grace so that we may be deified and transformed into “little Christs” in the world. When we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ, we become these “little Christs” and “lose our lives” in a sense. However, we find that by doing so we actually save our lives and live more abundantly than we could ever imagine.