“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.’” (Mark 8:34-35, NIV)
Two words at the center of the Christian life give us a lot of difficulty in thought and practice: submission and self-denial. These are difficult disciplines for spiritual growth, and when misunderstood or abused, they can wreak havoc in our lives. This could be a problem as we seek to appropriate the message of Saint Francis, but he wrote mainly about simplicity, poverty, humility and obedience.
He concluded, “There is absolutely no man in the whole world who can possess one among you [simplicity, poverty, humility or obedience] unless he first die. He who possesses one and does not offend the others, possesses all; and he who offends one, possesses none and offends all; and every one of them confounds vices and sins.” He contended that the virtues of simplicity, poverty, humility, and obedience should be the characteristics of a true Jesus follower, finding constant cause to celebrate them.
“Pure holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh. Holy poverty confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world. Holy humility confounds pride and all the men of this world and all things that are in the world. Holy charity confounds all diabolical and fleshly temptations and all fleshly fears. All these evils come from within, from the heart. But now, having renounced the world, we have nothing else to do but to be solicitous, to follow the will of God, and to please Him.”
Only in our surrender and submission to God and our earnest desire to know and follow God’s will, does our submission and self-denial have meaning. Our acts of self-sacrifice and surrender mean nothing if they are reduced to efforts to prove our merit or earn salvation. And we know that through the Holy Spirit, we can trust Jesus’ words that his yoke is easy, his burden light.
In his “Letter to All the Faithful,” Saint Francis encourages us, “We ought to deny ourselves and to put our bodies beneath the yoke of servitude and holy obedience as each one has promised to the Lord.”
Moment of Reflection: Do you practice simplicity, poverty, humility or obedience? What do you find most difficult or most meaningful?
Prayer: God, make me more committed to the discipline of self-denial. Amen.
Saints Alive! is available in print and Kindle version by clicking HERE