Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:27
Imagine you are standing in front of Jesus with your arms and hands full of items. You could think of them as your earthly possessions and relationships. Jesus has a cross in His hands. It looks somewhat different than His cross. As you look more closely, you realize that it is your cross. He holds it out to hand it to you, but your hands are simply too full for you to hold it. You have to grip everything tightly to keep them all from falling to the ground.
This armload of possessions is weighing you down, and you’re having trouble managing all of them, let alone having the freedom to accept your cross. Jesus tells us that accepting and carrying our crosses is a crucial part of discipleship. In today’s Gospel reading (Luke 14: 25-33), He even says that we cannot be His disciples without carrying our crosses and following Him.
So how can we begin to let go of the attachments that prevent us from loving God and accepting our own suffering? St. Augustine has some good advice: “Whilst there is yet something with you which you must one day lose, and either in life or death let it go, it cannot be with you always; while I say it is yet with you, loosen your love; be prepared for the will of God, hang upon God” (Sermon 75). To come back to the analogy, perhaps it is time to “loosen your love” and let go of some of your earthly possessions.
A practical key to detachment is this: no object should be more important than a person, and no person should be more important to you than God. Detaching from temporal goods frees our hearts to love God above all other things, the source of true peace. If you feel God calling you to let go of things so as to love God more, you could start the day with a brief petition: “Lord, help me love You above all else.”
Jesus, I want to accept my cross and be Your disciple. Free my heart from the grip of things that I “love” in order to accept the sufferings that I must bear that will paradoxically bring me to a place of true joy. Help me cling to You. I trust You to provide all that I need (Psalm 23:1).