Daily Guidelines: Feb. 15, 2018

​February 15, 2018/ Thursday
Gospel: Lk 9:22-25

“....deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow me!....”
“What does it profit you to gain the whole world, if you destroy or damage yourself.”

The daily cross, not a single day that we do not shoulder the Cross. Many of us carry the Cross in great and difficult challenges: illness in the family, financial problems, death of a loved one. However, these may come in little instances too: an irritable parent, a difficult officemate or boss, traffic in EDSA, the noisy dog of our neighbor....
​
Sometimes, the Lord gives us loneliness, moments of despair, disappointments...we lose joy when we are bombarded continually with frustrations. Thus we need to know how to face up to these trials beforehand, otherwise we succumb to emotional weakness, physical sickness and mental illness, . . We have our duties and responsibilities to fulfill at home and at work. Let’s not be paralyzed by these. Otherwise we die internally even before we leave this earth.
Let us ask Jesus and Mary to help us in our preparation to follow Him, carrying our Cross each and every single day.

Let’s learn to offer our pain for another person’s intentions; sacrifice a meal for a dear beloved’s illness; deny your daily expensive cup of coffee for a poor homeless person. There’s joy in giving someone else an offering, without him knowing about it. 
Let us make a plan for Lent. Let’s build up our armor of courage; our scorecard in heaven will be balanced and in proper order.