There is satisfying life in Jesus

Good morning, happy Friday, and may blessings.
 
In Matthew 16 24-28 we learn about the cost of associating with Jesus. He, Jesus, draws the conclusions which are valid even until now: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow Me”. 
 
Jesus draws the conclusions which are valid even until now: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow Me”. At that time, the cross was the death sentence which the Roman Empire inflicted on marginalized persons and bandits. To take up the cross and carry it behind Jesus was the same as to accept to be marginalized by the unjust system which legitimized injustice. The Cross is not fatalism, nor exigency from God. The Cross is the consequence of the commitment freely taken up by Jesus to reveal the Good News that God is Father and Mother, and therefore, we all have to be accepted and treated as brothers and sisters. Because of this revolutionary announcement, Jesus was persecuted, and He was not afraid to give His life. 
 
Nobody has greater love than this: to give one’s life for his friends (Jn ‪15:13‬). The witness of Paul in the letter to the Galatians indicates the concrete significance and importance of all this: “But as for me, it is out of the question that I should boast at all, except of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”. (Gal ‪6:14‬). He ends by referring to the marks of the tortures which he suffered: “After this, let no one trouble me, I carry branded on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal ‪6:17‬).
 
“Anyone who loses his life for My sake will find it”. These two verses make explicit universal human values which confirm the experience of many Christians and non-Christians: to save one’s life, to lose one’s life, to find one’s life. The experience of many is the following: anyone who is always seeking goods and riches is never satisfied. Anyone who gives himself or herself to others, forgetting herself or himself, experiences great happiness. Many do this and live in this way almost out of instinct, as something which comes from the bottom of the heart. Others act in this way because they have had a painful experience of frustration which has led them to change attitude.
 
Think once again about this: Anyone who loses his or her life will find it. What experience do I have regarding this? In the other hand, the words of Paul: “As for me, instead, there is no other glory than the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified for me and I for the world”. Do I have the courage to repeat these words in my life? And from Matt ‪16:25‬, to Lk ‪9:24‬, to Jn ‪21:18‬ we learn of the importance of following rather than leading. In my life, do I follow, give my life to others, or do I "lead my own life"?
 
Blessings
 
Fr. Luis+