Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

July 2, Sunday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: Genesis 1st Reading: 2 kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; 2nd Reading: Rome 6:3-4, 8-11;  Gospel: Matthew  10:37-42   

For us Catholics, following Jesus is a continuous daily carrying of our cross: a no-retreat, a no-surrender. Only by carrying our cross daily can we make ourselves worthy of Him. Taking it with love, as he did, is our mission. Life will be so ugly and despairing if we do not see the meaning of our existence away from the cross of Christ.

When I was still a novice, a priest told me to find time to meditate upon the cross, for the cross is a library of God's love. “On the cross of Christ, he said, you will find who he is as God-man, teacher, friend, formator, and adviser. On the cross, he will give you hope and strength. He will make your heart a heart of flesh and not of stone. There you will find sorrow and joy, peace and serenity, and you will understand that there is no pain, no gain.”

My biological parents got separated when I was a junior sister. They were years of suffering for my mother, seven siblings, and me in the convent. They were also years of prayers, discernment, recollection, and putting my disintegrated self together spiritually, mentally, physically, and psychologically. Nobody understood my behavior in the community, and I felt no one was interested in hearing my story. The only two people I could talk to are Jesus on the cross and in the blessed Eucharist and our Lady, the Mother of Mercy.  

I understood everybody was suffering back home the way I am.  Years after my perpetual profession, my father got ill, and I needed to remind my mother about her being a legal wife and her Christian duty to take care of him and grant forgiveness. My mother, my seven siblings, and I embraced our cross for love and without hate in our hearts, though we are very sorry. My father had us all together before and during his return to our creator. Peacefully, he goes after receiving the last sacrament. We are rewarded with peace and healing.

In the first reading, God rewarded the generosity of the barren woman with a child because she was hospitable to Elisha, the prophet of God. They made room for him, furnished with a table, a chair, and a lamp.  

In the second reading, St. Paul asked the Romans if they knew what they got during and after they were baptized with Chris from sin and the reward of the newness of life.  It means being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. This reminds us that there are always consequences to our actions. We pray to God for the gift of wisdom so we may always see him in everything we do.

Worthy we will be for Christ if we follow our cross daily. Our responsorial Psalm says: “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”