“Follow Me.”
Two of the most challenging, difficult and haunting words
that Jesus has ever spoken, because, with those two words, He calls us forth
from the comfort of our lives to the seeming uncertainty and unpredictable way
of His Will.
And, like the disciples, we are given two options, to
respond in immediacy, without hesitation or deliberation or to try to prolong
the inevitable and make excuses in order to avoid being called.
With those words, Jesus reminds us that to be a disciple we
will not always know the road ahead of us, nor may we know what will be asked
of us, which is why our response is so important, because it is our response
that will define us in our vocation and will determine whether in great trust
if we will leave, follow and be guided or look for an excuse like that of even
wanting to bury the dead.
For, while it seems like this man in our Gospel has good
intentions, Jesus sees through Him and tells Him: “let the dead bury the dead.”
He is not being callous or disrespectful, because, there is absolutely no
indication that this man’s father was even dead, or, for that matter, even
sick. It is, rather, an excuse to not follow Him at that moment, to avoid what
it is he is being called to do, that of, as Jesus says, proclaiming the kingdom
of God.
Yet, the hesitation and fear of the unknown is always what
prevents us from responding as we should, and while Jesus does not make it any
easier by stating that He has nowhere to rest His head, He shows us what it
means to have that true type of abandonment, to go where we are called and to
put all of our trust in the Will of the Father.
That by putting our hand to the plow, we don’t look back,
not because we don’t want to or because we don’t feel that sense of nostalgia,
but because, when we reach that level of trust in God, that obedience and
submissiveness to His Will, we will have no other desire than to look forward,
to embrace what is to come not as an uncertainty or as a mystery, but, rather,
as another road that God has directed us towards, another desire He wishes to
fulfill within us.
And, it stands as a very clear reminder that every day,
every moment, in one way or another, no matter who we are, no matter how old we
are or where we are, we are called and asked to follow in confidence and in
faith.
We need not make excuses, like those in our Gospel, and we
need not find ways of avoiding it, but, rather each day, give of ourselves,
making of ourselves a living sacrifice to God, so that we become not just
disciples and great followers, but reach a point as St. Paul has said
elsewhere, where it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives within me.
So that when we hear the invitation, the simple call from
God, to “Follow me,” without hesitation, reservation or excuse, we get up, we
embrace our cross, ready and willing, always and everywhere to do His Will.
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