Today we continue yesterday's revelation about who Jesus is and how we are to follow him. To be a follower of Jesus is to be ready to go exactly the way that he himself is going. "Those who want to be my followers must renounce themselves, take up their cross and follow me." This is the paradox. Self-preservation and self-centred ambition lead to nothing, only to a kind of death. Surrendering one's life totally into a commitment to Jesus and to his Way (as expressed in the Gospel) - while carrying our own cross - leads to an enrichment which nothing else can supply. Those who make every effort to preserve their lives and hang on to what they have with no regard for spiritual values or the needs of others are destined to lose everything, not least their integrity, dignity and self-respect. "What gain, then, is it for a person to win the whole world and ruin [the true meaning of] their life?" We have a long list of martyrs to the faith whose memories we cherish and whose example we respect and admire. We have no list and no desire to remember those who compromised their faith and their values but who may have enjoyed wealth and position as a result. They lived on for a while and then disappeared; the martyrs are still very much with us and continue to inspire us.