A Christian Paradox!

Friday, August 8, 2025

Deut 4:32-40; Mt 16:24-28

Today’s Gospel invites us to master the art of losing life in order to find it. 

We may understand Jesus’ invitation in two ways. 

1. Cross is a choice: Taking up our cross is not simply about enduring pain and suffering but proclaiming our fundamental option for Christ, especially by choosing to walk his path. Under the Romans, the cross was an instrument of death. But when Jesus invites us to carry the cross, the invitation is to die to ourselves. Following Jesus, who became a model of self-giving love, means resisting the temptation to live only for ourselves and putting others before ourselves. In sum, Jesus’ invitation to take up our cross mandates becoming totally other-centered, following his own example. 

2. Losing is Finding: When Jesus says, ‘Whoever wants to save their life will lose it,’ he is not condemning it or showing that he is anti-life. Instead, by asking, ‘What will it profit a person to gain the whole world but forfeit their soul?’ Jesus prompts a self-examination on the worthiness of what we pursue, believing that it would endure forever. It is Jesus’ way of reminding us that if we are engrossed with what does not truly matter, then we miss out on the essentials. Hence, Jesus gives us a redirection to invest our time, talent, and effort in something that endures. In sum, Jesus invites us to embrace a selfless life that will find meaning and joy in losing ourselves for others just as he demonstrated it on the cross.

For this reason, the cross represents a Christian paradox for others. But for Christians, it is the wellspring of love, sacrifice, fullness, and sharing.

Let us pray that we may live the ‘Christian paradox’ and follow the Lord in all earnestness. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar