“When Jesus invites us to follow him he says, ‘take up your cross.’ But on this feast of its exaltation, I wonder if it is not the cross that takes us up, the cross that carries us from the depths, transporting us to realms that are much more exalted.”
Fr. Jonathan Fassero, OSB

“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” It’s everyone’s job to guide others to the Lord….and if we’re blind to the Good Lord, we’re useless in that

Yes- we are to put these things on, even if we don’t feel like it:   Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.

There’s a great Latin word out there –

prōvideō, prōvidēre, prōvīdī, prōvīsum
In English: to look ahead, to provide for

What a great word – that one word carries two important meanings together – meaning, that to look ahead involves a providing for

Jesus says when we look ahead to build a tower, we had better make a provision – making sure everything is taken care of, like manpower, costs, materials

It’s the same with everything: You look ahead, and you provide for what is ahead…

You look ahead to a marathon you’re to run, and you make a provision: you train, eat well, etc

Part of being a responsible Catholic is to look ahead and provide

A couple getting married – they look ahead, realizing it might not all be a walk in the park…so they make a provision: every day we will talk for 30 min at the end of the day, or every week we’ll do a holy hour together, or once a month a date night….you look ahjead to what you want (a good marriage), and you make a provision

A couple with children – they look ahead, realizing that they want their kids to get to heaen…so they make a provision: they register them for school or catechism, they model the faith at home, they grow in their own faith, they teach it, etc….they look ahead to their child’s judgement day and they make a provision and train him in the faith

Part of the looking ahead is making a provision

You can’t just look ahead at what you want and think it will magically happen

It takes work. Nothing great has ever been achieved without hard work and endurance and provision