This story is not terribly unlike my own regarding self-sufficiency with respect to my drug of choice, alcohol. Alcohol worked great for me until it didn’t. In time, my speech became confused (much like those in today’s first reading), my relationships strained, and my success faltered. Perhaps I didn’t suffer the legal and medical consequences many do, but my life had fallen into disarray.  Once I had the first drink, the end result was never predictable. I became powerless over alcohol and my life had certainly become unsustainable. I was living a life of self-will run riot.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus offers us the remedy to such a life: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35). This message connects to the first three Steps of the Twelve Steps—admitting our powerlessness, coming to believe in God, and deciding to turn our lives over to Him. In other words, we can save and restore our destroyed lives by denying our “self-wills,” picking up our cross, and turning our lives over to the one who can restore us to true life.

Reflection Questions

• How are you still living your life based on your own self-sufficiency, trusting in your own talents and resources as opposed to trusting in the Lord?
• Have you truly admitted in the depth of your heart that you are powerless over your addiction, compulsion, or unhealthy attachment and that your life is, at the very least, unsustainable? How do your actions echo this admission if so?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Genesis 11:1-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15
Gospel: Mark 8:34—9:1

Reflection by Kevin S.