Lk 9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,

 “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world

yet lose or forfeit himself?”

Today's reflection is from Eve Sturgess, current senior at

Powers Catholic High School.

In the gospel, Jesus preaches about the importance of suffering in order to receive reward in heaven. He explains that the “Son of Man”, Himself, sets the example for graciously receiving suffering as a method of God’s grace to get us to eternal life with Him.

Through this gospel, we can begin to look at everything from daily inconveniences to extreme grief as suffering in unity with Christ. For example, those who have lost a loved one can look to the gospel about Lazarus’s death and see that Christ also experienced the very human feeling of loss, and see that they are not alone in their sorrow.

So, as we move through this season of Lent, we are reminded that we are not alone in our trials; as we share in Christ's suffering this season, He also accompanies us in ours.

Please click play to join us in our prayer for today, led by Powers Catholic seniors Leslie Tupper, Mark Lindhurst, and Grace Goodman.