A man walking with his shadow carrying the cross,
Photo by Kevin Carden,
Digitally mastered photograph,
Released in 2014
© Kevin Carden / GoodSalt
A man walking with his shadow carrying the cross,
Photo by Kevin Carden,
Digitally mastered photograph,
Released in 2014
© Kevin Carden / GoodSalt
Carry your cross every day and follow me
Luke 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’
Then to all he said:
‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?’
Reflection on the photograph
Kevin Carden is a contemporary photographer using digitally mastered photography to produce religious images. Our photograph shows a man walking from darkness to light, holding a Bible in his left hand, and with a shadow cast on the wall depicting him carrying a cross. The man is walking upright, and showing strength, but his shadow shows him bent under the weight of his cross. A simple, effective and striking image.
So what does Christ mean when he says in today's Gospel reading that we should take up our cross 'every day'? Every day simply means that if we truly want to love Christ, then we can't really have any days off of not loving him. Taking up our cross, means saying ‘no’ to what may often seem an easier path, but it also means saying 'yes' to be at the service of Jesus... It is exactly because the call to follow Lord is to be something we do daily, that Jesus teaches us to ask the Father, ‘give us this day our daily bread’. We daily need the resources only God can provide if we are to be faithful to him every day.
Carrying our cross doesn't mean that we just resign ourselves to bear what is brought upon us (such as suffering, family loss, shame, hurt, etc…) which none of us can escape. Rather, we have to try to meet these challenges with a reflective disposition. We have to try and remain positive, finding strength in our faith to face these challenges. Every day, the Lord is calling us to follow him, and every day we try to respond to that call.
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Chaque jour, le Seigneur nous appelle à le suivre, et chaque jour nous essayons de répondre à cet appel.
Chaque jour nous devons faire résusciter le Christ dans nous !
I like the photograph because it drives home the point that we really don’t know the burdens that people are carrying just by looking at their physical appearance.
Tome su cruz cada dia dice el Evangelio. Así es, cada día se lleva la cruz porque siempre hay problemas pequeños y algunma vez grandes. Como Jesús tuvo un Cirineo que le ayudó, en el camino al Calvario, así encontramos siempre ayuda o nosotros podemos ser cirineos ayudando a otros.
Me ha gustado esta fotografía porque ilustra de una forma sencilla y clara lo que el Evangelio nos dice.
I read this and think … “Oh dear! I’m not very good at carrying my cross…” But then another part of me kicks in. in the 1990s I had PTSD. I’d fallen victim to something that wasn’t supposed to be happening – exposing it threatened financial interests. I said: “Rubbish! Human rights come before money! I am going to expose this wrongdoing!” It was tough – I certainly felt the weight and pain of my cross – but then God showed me the way! The truth was out, and nothing could ever be the same again! God brought me forth from the Valley of the Shadow of Death and I only have to think about it to rejoice!
Nothing in my life will ever be that bad again. Compared with that, other problems are merely temporary annoyance…. but I admit – I’m not usually that good at carrying my cross…
Of course we have to carry the cross at times in our life both when things are bad for us and to lighten others’ burdens. But there are surely other times when life is good and we can with a clear conscience be happy and carefree. ‘Joie de vie’ is not sinfull. It’s when ‘joie de vie’ is all we seek and of course it’s not there all the time. Peaks and valleys are our life pattern.
Oggi sembra chiaro che il Vangelo ci sta dicendo che senza Vangelo rischiamo di perderci e proprio per questo dobbiamo rimetterlo al centro della nostra vita.
I need to remind myself every day that when I’m trying to deal with worries and anxiety I’m overburdened. I pray for an increase of trust in Jesus. Dear Lord grant us peace in our hearts when they are far from peaceful.
I think our individual Lenten journeys will mean some days our crosses will feel lighter than others. I hope this is one of those days for us all. God is good.
Yes spacey….that is what I am trying to say in my comment above.
I like to remember that even Jesus didn’t have to carry his cross alone. Simon was there and Christ will not leave us alone when we take up our cross. It would be comforting to see His presence in the picture, maybe the artist intends that depiction in the light ahead but I think Christ is right beside you under that cross.
Jesus is revealing what is about to happen to himself to his close followers, his passion, his death, his resurrection. He then invites anyone and everyone to follow him in the same death and resurrection process.
On the face of it, it’s not an attractive proposition. Luke’s audience knew all about the cross. It wasn’t just a heavy burden. It was a cruel instrument of tortuous death. Jesus acknowledges that life can be cruel and tortuous. But the pain of this life is never the end of our story, it’s simply the title page. My real life-story starts after the resurrection, life with God in unimaginable glory.
So, yes… I choose to follow Jesus, to lose my life for his sake. He has promised me he will save me.
Jesus, life has its pain, following you can be painful. I claim your promise that following you through the pain and death leads to life and life to the fullest.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.
You are very devoted to St Philip Neri…?
Ha! Hello Charles. Yes, I guess it appears I am a fan of Saint Philip Neri.
I’m involved in an evengelising outreach from our parish in the form of the Alpha Course (Have you heard of that?). Reading about Saint Philip Neri impressed me with his evangalisation methods which are very similar to the Alpha Course.
He saw that monastic life wasn’t reaching ordinary people in Rome so he started parish based meetings. These were a series of evening meetings in a hall (the Oratory), at which there were prayers, hymns, and readings from Scripture, the church fathers, and the Martyrology, followed by a lecture on some religious question proposed for consideration.
To be honest, all the Saints are giants in faith who impress me. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux is another favourite. I challenge anyone to read her Story of a Soul and not be transformed.
I once worshipped at a church dedicated to this inspiring saint. It was in a humble run down town but had a beautiful interior with a huge painting of the the saint behind the altar. His is a story worth knowing- a man of very generous heart. I pray for a successful Apha course too, I once helped to run a few and wasn’t aware they were still going.