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From: Matthew 16:24-28

Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection (Continuation)

[24] Then Jesus told His disciples, "If any man would come after Me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. [25] For
whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man, if he
gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give
in return for his life? [27] For the Son of Man is to come with His
angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man for
what he has done. [28] Truly, I say to you, there are some standing
here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in
His Kingdom."

Commentary:

24. "Divine love, `poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has
been given to us' (Romans 5:5), enables lay people to express
concretely in their lives the spirit of the Beatitudes. Following
Jesus in His poverty, they feel no depression in want, no pride in
plenty; imitating the humble Christ, they are not greedy for vain show
(cf. Galatians 5:26). They strive to please God rather than men,
always ready to abandon everything for Christ (cf. Luke 14:26) and even
to endure persecution in the cause of right (cf. Matthew 5:10), having
in mind the Lord's saying? `If any man wants to come after Me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me'" (Matthew 16:24)
("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).

25. A Christian cannot ignore these words of Jesus. He has to risk, to
gamble, this present life in order to attain eternal life: "How little
a life is to offer to God!" ([Blessed] J. Escriva, "The Way", 420).

Our Lord's requirement means that we must renounce our own will in
order to identify with the will of God and so to ensure that, as St.
John of the Cross comments, we do not follow the way of those many
people who "would have God will that which they themselves will, and
are fretful at having to will that which He wills, and find it
repugnant to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens to
them that oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their
own will and pleasure is not the will of God; and that, on the other
hand, when they themselves find satisfaction, God is satisfied. Thus
they measure God by themselves and not themselves by God" ("Dark Night
of the Soul", Book 1, Chapter 7, 3).

26-27. Christ's words are crystal-clear: every person has to bear in
mind the Last Judgment. Salvation, in other words, is something
radically personal: "He will repay every man for what he has done"
(verse 27).

Man's goal does not consist in accumulating worldly goods; these are
only means to an end; man's last end, his ultimate goal, is God
Himself; he possesses God in advance, as it were, here on earth by
means of grace, and possesses him fully and forever in Heaven. Jesus

shows the route to take to reach this destination--denying oneself
(that is, saying no to ease, comfort, selfishness and attachment to
temporal goods) and taking up the cross. For no
earthly--impermanent--good can compare with the soul's eternal
salvation. As St. Thomas expresses it with theological precision, "the
least good of grace is superior to the natural good of the entire
universe" ("Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 113, a. 9).

28. Here Jesus is referring not to His Last Coming (which He speaks
about in the preceding verse) but to other events which will occur
prior to that and which will be a sign of His glorification after
death. The Coming He speaks of here may refer firstly to His
Resurrection and His appearance thereafter; it could also refer to His
Transfiguration, which is itself a manifestation of His glory. This
coming of Christ in His Kingdom might also be seen in the destruction
of Jerusalem--a sign of the end of the ancient people of Israel as a
form of the Kingdom of God and its substitution by the Church, the new
Kingdom.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Dominic was born in Castile, Spain in the year 1170. He studied
theology at Palencia and was made canon of the church of Osma.
He worked effective against the Albigensian heresy through good
example and preaching.

The Albigensians believed that all things of the flesh were evil,
therefore they did not believe in the Incarnation of Christ. The
Albigensians lived austere, spartan lives. Because of this sparse
existence, they resisted the preachers who came to convert them.
The preachers lived rich existence and only served to solidify the
Albigensians' beliefs.

Dominic set out to convert the Albigensians but he realized that
unless there was a change in the lifestyle of the preachers no one
would be converted. Dominic and his companions banded together
to form a religious community called the Order of Preachers. The
Dominican Order took on a simple lifestyle, living what they preached
in community devoted to contemplation, study and preaching. In this
way, Dominic was instrumental in helping convert the Albigensians.
St. Dominic died in 1221. He is the patron of astronomers.

A popular story that exists about St. Dominic says that after receiving
a vision of a man dressed as a beggar who, like Dominic, would do
great things for the Faith. When Dominic met the beggar the next
day, he embraced him and said, "You are my companion and must
walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can withstand
us." The beggar was St. Francis of Assisi and this meeting is
commemorated twice a year on the feast days of these two men by
the religious communities they founded.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must
either command them, or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a
hammer than an anvil. -St. Dominic

TODAY IN HISTORY

676 Death of St. Colman of Lindesfarne
1910 The Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments in the Vatican
issued the decree "Quam singulari," which recommending children
be permitted to receive Holy Communion when they reach the "age
of discretion" (i.e., about age 7).

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Order of Preachers, also known as Dominicans, was founded in
1215 by St. Dominic. The mission of the order is to work for the
salvation of souls especially through preaching. The order is made
up of mendicant friars. The Dominicans have fostered theological
study since their inception. Two great Medieval Dominican
theologians are St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for peace