SATURDAY, November 14 (Consecration of Samuel Seabury)

Jesus' invitation to self-denial and suffering is a perfect summation of Christian discipleship. As great and beautiful as life can be, it also includes discontent and genuine suffering. Suffer alone? We don't have to if we suffer with Christ. Why die alone when we can die with Christ? It is a transformative invitation that turns the human dilemma from one of self-reliance--which none of us can ever attain--to one of selflessness.

Selflessness is proactive and leads us outside ourselves to serve others. The downside, of course, is that there is always some one or some group ready to hurt us at every turn. Some words and assaults are easy to ignore. Slings and arrows present a whole new crisis. If the data are correct, there is a whole new kind of bullying going on in schools, on playgrounds, and over the Internet, that most of us over thirty never had to contend with. It is not right that selflessness gets turned into self-loathing or depression. There are no easy solutions. Yet parents, teachers, and other adults need to be vigilant and attentive to the hearts, as well as the minds, of those most vulnerable: young people.

PRAY for the Diocese of Virgin Islands (Province II, USA)