Follow Me

What does it take to follow Jesus as Levi, Peter, James and John did when Jesus extended the invitation to his mission to them?  To this I have given much thought as I meditated on the readings since Ash Wednesday.  I receive daily e-mail  Lenten meditations every year and I find that these provide the little extra spiritual shot I need sometimes.  The Ash Wednesday meditation that provoked an insight that I have not considered came from Bishop Robert Barron entitled Into the Desert.  The reader in the first line is presented with the great figures of salvation history, from Abraham to David, in which each of these men had to go through a period of cleansing or trial before they could begin the work God commissioned them to implement.  After reading that, I realized that this applies to all of us, especially myself. I was not ready to carry out any type of work related to the mission until I had to surrender to  God my life. Many identify to these periods of trial and tribulation in which they come to God ready to unload the baggage they are carrying that prevents them from being the person God intended them to be.  For some that can be after years of attending church, but much like a blind person not seeing.  For others it can be a return back to the Church. Only then can one be ready.

What then follows can best be summed up in the various passages this week. In Paul's Letter to the Corinthians (5:20) we see the passage "In acceptable time I heard you,/and on the day of salvation I helped you." I look upon this and see these words as accurate in this sinner's life. I had to be ready and open to the Gospel before I could live my life as I do now.   In Thursday's Gospel passage we are asked to take up the cross daily. For me this requires to understand what my cross is which took quite a long time.  The ways of the world only brought pain, despair, and a hunger that can never be filled. On Friday we are asked to fast which is contradictory to the worldly message of consumption. It took me quite a while to understand that the emptiness of my stomach was actually a way to turn to God for sustenance.  No amount of food could ever provide what God does for me daily.

Today I find much solace in Isaiah's words, "Then the light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for like midday."  Moreover, in the recognition that I am sitting at the table with Levi, I am thankful that I have heard the call to follow. Strengthened by these passages and the beautiful readings that accompany the Lenten journey I find hope.   Today's Psalm's 86 states, "Incline you ear, O Lord, answer me for I am afflicted and poor." Words for me to always have by my side.  Blessings and may you have a joyous and rewarding Lent.