I answered this in the OBOB forum, i hope you don't mind if a share it here as well.
Big Sierra,
Thanks for the question. Very timely.
The Scipture for the Mass today I think can help answer that question.
Matthew 20: 17 - 28 17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19 and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." 23 He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; 28 even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus tells his disciples about what he must endure through HIs Passion. Then the mother of James and John asks Jesus to command that her sons be with him in his kingdom. Jesus then asks them if they as willing to drink of the same cup he is to drink from (persecution and death). They reply "We can". Jesus then goes on to explain that they must be a servent like Him as well.
As Christians our whole lives must be geared towards service to other. On some level most Christians know this. But it is not just being nice to people or doing things for others. This service we are called to is a sacraficial Love. We can not effectively serve other unless we first deny ourselves. Our needs and wants must take a backseat to the needs of others. We must be willing to sacrafice outselves for the sake of other and most of all for the sake of God.
As Paul tells us we must die to ourselves, daily. Everyday we must subjagate our needs to the needs of other. Does that mean we must go and work in a soup kitchen everyday? Well that would be nice, but not very practical especially if we have our own family to think about.
Although it is a much ignored practice of Catholics these days, mortification is what we call this way of dying daily to ourselves. They are not big, dramatic changes that people will notice. They small hidden things that may go unnoticed, we do everyday to deny ourselves and serve other.
One example of this would be getting up in the morning, when we would rather sleep. The temptation is great to just roll over and sleep for a "few more minutes". But what if we used those "few minutes" each morning to read Scripture or to offer prayers for other or to make sure we are ready and focused for a productive day at work or school. By doing this we offer what we want (sleep) for the benefit of others. This is sacraficial love. Love that denies self for the service of others. They are in the small things in life that can make the difference.
Staying a few minutes later at work to complete a task instead of bolting for the door at exactly 5:00PM so you can rush off to do something that for yourself. Staying after class to help another student with a hard problem instead of rushing out to hang out with your friends. These opportunities for mortification come to us hundres of times a day, but we never see them because we are focus on self. If we being to practice mortification, we will become more aware of how self centered and self absorbed we are.
Drink the cup, pick up the cross and die daily. It is relatively easy, but we must first subjagate our wants and needs. That's the hard part. But if we do, we can glorify God every day. And after all that is what we should be about.
