At a hotel restaurant, a man sees a very attractive woman sitting alone at the next table. Suddenly, she sneezes and a glass eye comes flying out right out her socket. The glass eye flies past the man, he catches it in mid-air, and hands it back to her. The woman says, “This is so embarrassing,” and she pops right back into place. “I’m so sorry I’ve disturbed you. Let me buy a dinner to make up for you. May I join you?” He nods, and the woman is very, very pretty, and they have a lot in common, and they’re talking. He gets her phone number and asks, “You’re the most charming woman I’ve ever encountered. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?” “No,” she said. “You just happened to catch my eye.”

Well, catch today’s gospel. Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.” How do I live out this challenge of Jesus in my life? There’s a story of a missionary priest in Africa, worked with the people for 20 years. His religious community asked him that he be transferred to work with the poor in New York City. This missionary priest personally made 100 sandwiches every morning and passed them along the streets of the poor of New York City.

A local TV station caught this hard-working missionary in action and decided to feature him on the evening news. His work among the poor traveled abroad, and many people sent donations to help this missionary priest with his sandwiches and his monastery. But the priest sent back this “thank-you” note to every person who sent a donation. “Thank you very much for your most generous gift and for thinking of these poor people. However, I’m returning your money. Go make your own sandwiches.”

Now, I’m not suggesting we stop our generosity to the poor or our favorite charity or cause, especially Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. However, there’s a very valuable lesson here for us. Jesus is the most action-oriented person I’ve ever encountered. Jesus, a man of the action, not only in words, but in action. And Jesus challenges all of us to go and make our own sandwiches. You know, if we sit around and wait for people to become lovable before we love them, we’ll sit around the rest of our lives. It’s precisely in the process of loving others that they become lovable.