Daily Catholic Lectio
Fri, 7 Aug 2026
XVIII Week in Ordinary Time
Nahum 2:1, 3. 3:1-3, 6-7. Mt 16:24-28
World Out and In
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Then He asks a powerful question: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”
This question places before us two worlds: the world outside us and the life inside us.
The Greek word used for “life” here is psychē. It can mean life, soul, self, inner being, or the whole person. Jesus is not speaking only about physical life. He is speaking about the deepest self of a person before God.
The “whole world” is the kosmos: possessions, power, success, name, position, recognition, and all that stands outside us. The psychē is the inner life: conscience, faith, freedom, integrity, desire, love, and our relationship with God.
Jesus asks: What is the use of gaining the whole kosmos if one loses the psychē?
The Stoic philosopher Epictetus begins his teaching by saying that some things are within our control, and some things are not within our control. Our judgement, desire, intention, choice, and response are within our control. Possessions, reputation, status, power, what others think, and external events are not fully within our control.
This helps us understand the words of Jesus. The world outside us can be possessed, but it cannot be truly controlled. The life inside us can be guarded, but it can also be easily lost.
Many times, we spend our energy trying to gain what is outside us. We want approval, success, comfort, security, and honour. But all these can change. They can disappear. They can be taken away. If we build our life only on them, we become fragile.
Jesus calls us to guard the psychē. He invites us to protect the inner life that God has given us.
There are three lessons here.
First, not every profit is true profit. A person may gain money, position, name, and comfort, yet lose peace, honesty, faith, and joy. True profit is not what increases outside us, but what keeps us alive within.
Second, even the whole world is not enough. Jesus does not say “some things” or “many things.” He says “the whole world.” Even if a person could possess everything, it would still not be equal to one human soul. The world can fill our hands, but it cannot fill our heart.
Third, the greatest loss is losing oneself. To forfeit life is not dying. It is to lose one’s true self, one’s conscience, one’s freedom before God, and one’s eternal destiny.
Therefore, wisdom is to know the difference. Faith is to choose the soul over the world. The world outside us will pass. The life inside us belongs to God. Let us not lose it.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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