Word of Life

June 2005

"Follow me." (Mt 9:9)

On his way out of Capernaum, Jesus saw a tax collector by the name of Matthew seated at the tax booth. Matthew had a job that made him despised by the people, for it placed him in the same category as loan sharks and those who took advantage of others to amass wealth for themselves. The Scribes and Pharisees put him on the same level as public sinners, and criticized Jesus for being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” and of eating with them (Mt 11:19; 9:10).

Going against all social conventions, Jesus called Matthew to follow him and accepted his invitation to dine at his home. Later he would do the same with Zaccheus, the chief tax collector in Jericho. When questioned about his behaviour, Jesus answered that he had come to heal the sick, not the healthy, and to call not the righteous, but sinners. His invitation, now too, was addressed directly to one of these:

"Follow me."

Jesus had already spoken these words to Andrew, Peter, James and John on the shore of the lake. He gave the same invitation, in different words, to Paul on the road to Damascus.

But Jesus did not stop there. Down through the centuries he has continued to call men and women of every culture and nation. He still does so today: he comes into our lives and meets us in different places and different ways, making us hear once more his invitation to follow him.

He calls us to be with him because he wants to build a personal relationship with us, and at the same time he invites us to work with him to renew humanity.

Our weaknesses, sins and limitations do not matter to him. He loves us and chooses us just as we are. His love will then transform us and give us the strength to answer his call and the courage to follow him as Matthew did.

He has a particular love for each one of us, a plan for each person’s life, an individual call. We become aware of it in our hearts through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or through particular circumstances, or advice from someone who cares about us. Although he reveals himself in different ways, the same words sound out:

"Follow me."

I remember when I too heard this call from God. It was a very cold winter morning in Trent. My mother asked my younger sister to go and buy some milk at a place about a mile away from home. Since it was so cold she did not want to go. My other sister also refused to go. “I’ll go, Mum,” I said, and I picked up the bottle and left the house. Halfway there something a bit special happened: it seemed almost as though Heaven opened and God asked me to follow him. “Give all of yourself to me,” I felt him say in my heart.

It was a definite calling and I wanted to respond to it straight away. I talked about it with my priest who said I could give my life to God for ever. It was 7 December 1943. I will never be able to describe what happened in my heart that day. I had married God. I could expect anything from him.

"Follow me."

This phrase applies not only to that moment when we make a choice that affects our whole life. Jesus calls us every day. “Follow me,” are his words to us before even the simplest daily tasks. “Follow me” in the trials we are called to face, in the temptations we have to overcome, in the acts of service we need to do.
How should we respond practically?

By doing what God wants from us in the present moment, which always brings a particular grace with it.

Our commitment this month then, will be to do the will of God with decisiveness; dedicating ourselves fully to the brothers and sisters we are called to love; to our work, to our studies, to praying, to resting and to all we have to do.

Let us learn to listen to the voice of God deep within us, which speaks to us through the voice of our conscience. He will tell us what he wants from us in every moment, and our part is to be ready to sacrifice everything in order to do it.

“May we love you, Lord, not only more and more each day, for the days that remain may be very few, but let us also love you in each present moment with all our heart, soul and strength in whatever is your will.”
This is the best way to follow Jesus.

Chiara Lubich