12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I – Zechariah 12:10-11 
, 13:1
Reading II – Galatians 3:26-29
Gospel – Luke 9:18-24
FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHRIST - The great fifty-day celebration of Easter has concluded, as have the feasts honoring the Holy Trinity and the Body and Blood of Christ. Last week we began a long stretch of Ordinary Time that will bring us to late November. Saint Paul tells us today that those who are baptized “have clothed your selves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27 ).
This scripture is echoed in the Church’s baptism rit ual when we sing, “You have put on Christ, in him you have been baptized.” This message is inspiring and sober ing at the same time, for in today’s Gospel, we get to the heart of what it means to be clothed in Christ. The Lord tells us, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23 ). For the next twenty-two weeks we are called to take up the cross and, with Saint Luke as our guide, follow in the footsteps of Christ. © Copyright, J. S. Paluch Co.
