Episode Details

Thursday 19 February 2026

Today is Thursday the 19th of February, in the season of Lent. Jon Guerra sings, ‘Take Up Your Cross’. Today, we will pray with the passage this song is about. It’s definitely a challenging one... But let this song help you and guide you into prayer. If anyone would come after me Let him deny himself Take up his cross Follow me Whoever would save his life Will lose it Whoever loses his life for me Will find it If anyone claims to worship God Let him give all away Take up his cross Follow me Whoever would save his life Will lose it Whoever loses his life for me Will find it What would it profit a man If he gains the whole world And forfeits his soul What would it profit a man at all What would it profit a man If he dies with a barn full of silver and gold What would it profit a man at all If anyone would come after me Let him deny himself Take up his cross Follow me Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke. Luke 9:22-25 [Jesus said] ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’ Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves. “Those who want to save their life will lose it.” What might wanting to “save your life” mean? Can you think of someone you know of, who lost out on life because they wanted to save their life, or perhaps cling on to something in their life? “And those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” Can you think, on the other hand, of anyone you know of, who saved their life or gained life in some way, by giving up their life, or control of their life, or by sacrificing something very important to them? Some people think of these words of Jesus as rhetoric, a kind of poetical overstatement. Other people find them very challenging; they think, “I don’t take up my cross every day. Perhaps my life is too cushy”. Others don’t know what to think and still wonder what Jesus really means by these words. As you hear them again, try to listen with new ears, and see if some particular meaning or sense comes through to you. Luke 9:22-25 [Jesus said] ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’ Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves. However you are feeling now – challenged, enlightened, or perhaps still wondering – bring those feelings to God who is present here now. Speak to him openly about what it might be he is saying to you, and how you want to respond. You have given all to me To you, Lord, I return it Everything is Yours, do with it what you will Give me only Your love and Your grace That is enough for me.