Daily Catholic Lectio
Thu, 19 February ‘26
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Deut 30:15-20. Lk 9:22-25
Choosing Life
Today the Word of God places before us a fundamental decision: the way of life or the way of death. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses speaks with clarity to the people. To listen to the Lord, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments — this is life and prosperity. To turn away is to move toward loss and destruction. The choice is not abstract. It is concrete. It is daily.
Psalm 1 deepens this contrast with a powerful image. The one who delights in the law of the Lord is like a tree planted by streams of water — rooted, nourished, bearing fruit in due season. The wicked, by contrast, are like chaff blown away by the wind. One life is stable and fruitful; the other is light, scattered, and empty. The psalm does not speak of passing emotions, but of direction. Where are our roots? What nourishes our decisions?
In the Gospel according to Gospel of Luke (9:22–25), Jesus brings this choice to its deepest point. He speaks of His suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. Then He turns to His disciples and says: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Here is the Christian paradox: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
The world teaches the opposite. It tells us to secure, protect, accumulate, preserve. Hold tightly to your life. Keep control. Avoid risk. But Jesus reveals a different wisdom. The cross is not simply suffering. It is the path of transformation. When we cling to ourselves, we shrink. When we surrender in love, we grow. When we try to control everything, we live in fear. When we entrust ourselves to God, we discover freedom.
To choose life, then, is not merely to choose physical survival. It is to choose Christ. It is to choose the way of self-giving love. It is to accept that loss, sacrifice, and fidelity are not defeats, but seeds of resurrection. The cross is the road that leads to Easter. Without Good Friday, there is no empty tomb.
This choice unfolds in ordinary moments. Moses says, “Choose life.” Jesus says, “Take up your cross daily.” Not once in a lifetime, but every day. In small decisions: to forgive instead of to resent; to pray instead of to drift; to listen instead of to ignore; to give instead of to grasp; to trust instead of to fear. Life is chosen not in grand gestures alone, but in quiet faithfulness.
During this Lenten journey, the question is simple and searching: What am I choosing? Am I rooted like the tree by running water, or am I being carried by every passing wind? Am I holding on to myself, or am I learning to give myself? Before this day ends, we might ask in silence: “Did I choose life today?”
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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