Daily Meditation: Monday, May 23, 2005

‘For whoever would save his life will lose it’ - commentary

05/23/2005

People speak of sacrificing themselves as if it were a matter of giving up or losing something. When we make a sacrifice, we do not sacrifice ‘ourselves’, but rather something useless, harmful or inferior, in order to obtain something great, powerful and precious. If we fail to sacrifice what is inferior within us to give life to what is superior, we will inevitably sacrifice the very best in ourselves for the benefit of our coarsest instincts. It is impossible to escape this law: our divine nature cannot live if we do not sacrifice our lower nature. What is life for one is death for the other. This is how we are to interpret the words of Jesus when he said: ‘Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.’ To understand these words also means, and most importantly, that we intend to realize them.