Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Mark (8: 34 – 9: 1) in which Jesus says, ‘if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, they must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’. As Fr Paul mentioned yesterday, three times Jesus tells the disciples and the crowd about the three great prophecies of his suffering, death and resurrection. Each time he gives these prophecies about his passion, the disciples fail to understand their meaning.  Each time Jesus, again, says to be a disciple involves following him to glory by suffering. Towards the end of the Gospel, Jesus uses the term ‘Son of Man’. This is a reference to the prophecy in the Book of Daniel, which relates to the fact that the son receives all power and authority from the one of great age. Fr Paul says it is interesting that Jesus uses this term because in tomorrow’s Gospel, it is the Gospel of the Transfiguration of Jesus. It is, again, a time when God speaks to the disciples.Mindful of this, Fr Paul says, we again reflect on the theme of suffering; we reflect and pray about having the strength and courage to accept suffering when it comes into our lives and realise that it brings us closer to Christ.