The Illness

Since Adam and Eve, all human beings have suffered from the illness I call “ego.” We tend to see every option in our path using the pronoun, “I.” Whether it is when to attend Church, how to spend our money, what to eat, even how to interpret the Holy Scriptures, we invoke our God-given freedom to swear off any influence from anyone over our decisions. So when Jesus invites us to follow Him with the challenge, “Deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me,” it should make us think twice about the illness we call “ego.” The Church’s way of life of reading and interpreting the Holy Scriptures, prayer, fasting, attending Church services, house blessings, caring for the poor, and Confession, are meant to cure the illness of the “ego” so that we can follow Jesus into heaven.