Today's Gospel in Art - Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple

The Man Who Bears the Cross, by Jan Fabre © Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium

Gospel of 6th November 2019 - Luke 14: 25-33

Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. "If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

"And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, "Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish."

"Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions."

Reflection on the Gilt-Bronze Sculpture

The sculpture we are looking at is by Jan Fabre, acquired four years ago by the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp. It depicts a full length self-portrait of the artist 'balancing' a large cross in the palm of his hand. This balancing act shows in a way the attitude many of us have towards the crosses we are given to bear. Instead of lifting our crosses and carrying them alongside Jesus, we prefer to make our faith a 'balancing act', where we put ourselves in charge, instead of Christ. The artist seen balancing the cross in the palm of his hand won't be able to sustain that for very long… he won't be able to walk far like this on his journey, as soon he will stumble… only the person who truly carries his cross on his back, like Jesus carried it, will be able to walk the full length of the journey…

To read on see: www.christianart.today/daily-gospel-reading/226