The Gospel reading spells out the cost of Christian discipleship. Here the three conditions for discipleship include:

i) 'self-denial' which is the ability to say 'no' to oneself and say 'yes' to God. This is very much in contrast to the current obsession with self-realisation and self-gratification. Our Christian identity is associated with Jesus' values and way of life, which surpasses self-satisfaction/self-centredness towards other-centredness or self-transcendence.

ii) 'take up his cross'. By this, Jesus demanded that to be committed disciples, we need to be ready to sacrifice our lives like Jesus. This calls for an altruistic attitude towards life! Are we prepared for this?

iii) 'follow me'. This is a decision to be made by disciples of Jesus - to be ready to make a total commitment to Christ's mission. In Mk.9:1, Jesus affirms that the Kingdom of God will come in the glorious second coming of Jesus. This serves as a prelude to the Transfiguration (Mk 9:2-8), which reveals the risen glory of Jesus in Resurrection.

This is re-iterated in the first reading wherein St. James emphasises the dual aspects of discipleship - Faith and Action.

Let us be reminded that faith is to be lived out in concrete actions of self-sacrifice and full commitment to Christ's mission on earth.