“Come, Follow Me! The Call and the Challenge.”
3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – A
On Sept 30, 2019, Pope Francis issued a Pastoral letter declaring that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time was to be set aside every year as the “Sunday of the Word of God.” The Holy Father urged pastors to celebrate this day with special homilies and added reverence to the Scriptures in Mass, and by encouraging us to take up the Scriptures anew and find in them the treasures of God’s word for our lives.
The call of Peter and Andrew and of James and John to follow Jesus is a call for us to do the same, to follow Jesus all the way, no matter what the cost. The Gospel says that they left everything and followed Jesus. Some people never make a commitment to follow Jesus because they never realize that he is calling them. They think that the call of Jesus is just to go to church on Sundays or just to be a good person. That is not the case. Jesus calls us to leave behind the way things used to be and to commit ourselves to following him, to make those difficult decisions and to live as he calls us to live. Peter, Andrew, James, and John immediately left their nets and followed him: no hesitation, no delays. They realized that they had been offered the chance of a lifetime and they seized the moment.
Today, Jesus is calling us through this Gospel. Jesus wants us to follow him. What do you think is being required of you to follow Jesus? What must you leave behind?
In following Jesus, the apostles had to make radical changes in their lives. In our following of Jesus, we too have to make changes. Peter and Andrew left their fishing boat and nets; James and John left their boat, nets and father. Matthew gave up his lucrative job as a tax collector. What do we need to leave behind to follow Jesus?
Jesus urges us to give up certain things: what is he telling us to change in our lives? What is he telling us to re-arrange or adjust in our lives? We should be ready to hear what he is telling us: it may be to change a habit or attitude; it may be to give up some things; it may be one of many things. God knows what is good for us. We may be asked to give up some thing or things to which we are very much attached. Here lies the challenge: the adventure to follow Jesus is worth anything it may cost us.
Commitment to follow Jesus will always have a price. The apostles left their livelihood to follow Jesus. Following Jesus may cost us a friend; family members may not understand what we are doing and may not wish to join us. If Jesus gave us his life and his all to save us, no sacrifice would be too great for us to follow Jesus.
God has a message just for you today, and that message may well be embedded in the readings you have just heard. It will be something personal and inspiring. No one else will hear your invitation to follow Jesus the way you hear it.
Jesus called Peter and Andrew and James and John to help him bring the Good News to all the world. He invites each one of us, each of us in a very special and unique way, considering how each one of us is indeed unique, to allow ourselves to be met, to be called, loved and sent off to meet, love and invite others. How loved we are by our God to be sought out and called to follow his only Son!
How will following Jesus this week change your life? Let us consider the possibilities.