Reading I: Isaiah 50:5-9a
Reading II: James 2:14-18
GOSPEL: Mark 8:27-35
How Do You Deny Yourself?
The readings this weekend contain a number of significant challenges, but perhaps the most difficult comes at the conclusion of the Gospel reading. Jesus tells the crowd and his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
But is the difficult part taking up one’s cross and following Jesus? Or is the difficulty for us something different; something more basic? Perhaps the difficulty for us is actually determining what it means to deny oneself. For if you don’t know what it means to deny yourself, how can you ever truly take up your cross and follow Jesus?
Dramatic Denial
It’s very easy to go to Mass each week, sit in the pew, and listen as the Priest or Deacon breaks open the Word through a homily. It takes no effort at all to sit there and nod in agreement as we are told we must deny our desires and pick up crosses. But what does that mean? Denying ourselves, then placing God and others first sounds nice and holy, but what do we need to do in order to keep the words from being hollow?
I suppose denying yourself could mean wearing a burlap sack and living a contemplative life out in the woods somewhere, but that’s not a realistic option for most of us. Denying yourself could mean giving away all of your worldly possessions and going to work as a missionary in a distant corner of the earth. But is Jesus only speaking about such dramatic forms of denial? Or is there something that is within the grasp of the average person today?
It’s All About the Motive
Jesus didn’t say a Christian had to “deny himself all pleasures.” Nor did he say a Christian had to “deny himself all possessions.” He didn’t even say that a Christian had to “deny himself good tasting food.” What Jesus said was that if someone wanted to follow him, that person had to “deny himself.”
Perhaps, whenever you catch yourself doing something solely for your own benefit, you need to say “no.” You must focus on putting others first; but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to put yourself last. For example, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care of yourself; nor does it mean that you should never do anything that you enjoy.
Sometimes the best thing that we can do for others is to take better care of ourselves, which may mean exercising, eating healthily, or doing something to relax and de-stress. The key, however, is that you need to have the right motive for everything you do.
Denial for the Rest of Us
So how do you deny yourself? Well, you could skip that extra golf game and spend a little extra time with your family. Or cancel one movie night to help out at the Church. Maybe you could turn off the TV one evening a week, put away your devices, and just chat with your family.
Adults could stop playing office politics and start looking for ways to help their coworkers succeed. Wouldn’t that be something? Can you imagine how much better most businesses would do if everyone had that mentality? Teens could stop creating so much drama, stop the endless gossip, and try talking to someone who has been clearly left out. Imagine what high school would be like if everyone actually watched out for one another!
Denying oneself does not mean that we must go through life without joy or pleasure. But it does mean that we must be mindful of how and why we get that joy or pleasure. If we achieve feelings of joy and pleasure by putting the needs of others before our own, then we are probably well on our way to living a truly Christian life.
Life Applications:
What are some ways that you deny yourself already?
What are some ways that you could deny yourself more?
How do you feel when you put the needs of others before your own?
Check out the REAL Word Podcast for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B):
Original article by Brandon Jubar, 2009-2021.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.