How to Pick up Your Cross

Fr. Mike’s words on taking up our crosses may come as a relief to
many of us. He rejects the “harder is holier” approach, and reminds
us that taking up our crosses is ultimately about having more
freedom. Christ says “My yoke is easy, and my is burden light”
(Matthew 11:30). God has a particular task for each of us, and
taking up our crosses means denying what we want for our lives so
that we can do God’s will. After all, that is what we were made to
do and the only way to truly be free. “Then Jesus told his
disciples, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his
life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it” (Matthew 16:24-25).