Deny Yourself

In this meditation, Fr. Peter Armenio, priest of Opus Dei, invites us to reflect upon the “science of the cross” given by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. As the precondition for those who want to follow Christ, Fr. Peter shows how we can apply Christ’s words to ourselves and learn how to put them into practice.“He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me’” (Mark 8:34).Self-denial is often manifested through acts of mortification and fasting, yet the self-denial that Christ is addressing here is on a macro level. We are called to deny our whole persona: our minds, our wills, our hearts, our entire beings, just as Mary did in her “fiat” at the annunciation. No matter what our vocation, Christ is inviting us to put him first in our life.Although living out this type of self-denial is the work of a lifetime, it begins by cultivating the disposition of giving the Lord our entire self each day. In examining the lives of the saints, we see models of those who cultivated this disposition and responded to the Lord’s call with a total gift of themselves. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! If you enjoy our weekly meditations, please consider helping us keep the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast ad-free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you:Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review.Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!