Tues., Jan. 28, 2014
Deacon Robert Banet
Charlie, I want to talk to you about self-denial.
Ouch! You could have gone all week without saying that word.
I know. It’s painful even to think about it. But we have it.
Why do we have to?
Jesus said if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Where does it say that in the Bible?
Look at Matthew, chapter sixteen. And yes, you have to read the whole chapter to find it. I’m not going to tell you the verse.
Argh!
It’s very serious, you know. Every time you deny yourself, you draw a little closer to Jesus.
How can I do that? Give me some examples.
Well, let’s say you really want to watch that TV show. You say no to yourself, you deny yourself and instead of watching the show, you do something else.
That’s OK, maybe once in a while. What else?
Any matter of eating, maybe not having that second Oreo or maybe a little less of that kielbasa.
So you say, any kind of thing that I would want to do, I would say no to it?
Yes. Matters of eating, sleeping, or any kind of comfort. Doing what someone else asks you to do instead of what you had planned.There are many ways to say no to that self.
I remember now. Jesus says if you lose your life for His sake you will find it.
Yes. And as a further incentive, St. John of the Cross says you will reap a little reward even here on earth.
Is that Church teaching?
I couldn’t say that, but St. John is an official doctor of the Church. You can’t go too far wrong in listening to him.
I’m sorta glad, in a way, that we had this little chat.
I know what you mean. It is kind of painful but it’s His way.