“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

My dear Friends in Christ,

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” this perplexing line spoken to the Apostles by Jesus in our Gospel today hint that “there is a finding in the losing of.” Doesn’t this defy logic? One would think that the whole point of finding is recovering a loss. The “losing” of which Jesus speaks is about the sacrifice: losing, or giving up, something of ourselves for a greater good or for the good of others. These words that Jesus speaks are direct and to the point. He is teaching His disciples and us to put aside distractions and to put himself at the center. When we put ourselves before others, when we put our work before family, when we do not take the time for prayer and to build up and grow our relationship with God, we are losing sight of the sacrifice we are called to in this life. Making a sacrifice is not easy because it leaves us vulnerable and requires loss. The key is to work harder at putting God first. Losing ourselves in order to find our true selves in Christ brings us closer to God. Jesus gives us the courage to do this by assuring us that He will be with us every step of the way.

The Annual Catholic Appeal continues and we seem to have gone “flat” as a parish hovering around 50% of goal. Please consider making a pledge and honoring it for the good of Corpus Christi Parish.

May God bless you all,

Father John