By Amber Kinloch
“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9).
“Follow me,” Jesus says, and Matthew does so at once. What a radical response! Would you and I do the same? Would we drop everything straightaway to follow a man we knew little to nothing of? Probably not. Yet Matthew does so, as do Andrew, Peter, James, and John (Matthew 4:18-22).
Every day, Jesus passes through our lives and calls us to follow Him in ways both big and small. The example of the Apostles challenges and encourages us to respond promptly to Jesus’ call. Do we?
You might ask, “Where do I meet Christ in my daily life? I do not perceive His Presence or hear Him calling me.” Yet He is there.
He calls us to be faithful to our daily prayers when we don’t feel like praying. He speaks to us through Sacred Scripture or a passage from some spiritual work. He invites us to grow in the spiritual life through an invitation to attend a Bible Study or a tug in our heart to frequent the sacraments more often.
Jesus meets us in the guise of other people. It could be a neighbor walking down the street towards us, or a stranger at the grocery store who needs help with something. Perhaps we don’t feel like talking with these people. Will we pass by without a word, a smile, or even a glance? Or will we recognize Christ in the other person and greet Him?
Sometimes, Christ calls us to take on a new venture or enterprise. It could be a new job or an apostolate like teaching CCD, helping with youth ministry, or tending to the hungry, lonely, or imprisoned. Or maybe it’s time to give up something in order to have more time for prayer, leisure, and tending to our relationships with family and friends.
We meet Christ when we’re confronted by temptations to sin and He calls us to resist. He urges us to repent when we fall. He nudges us to grow in a certain virtue and to take specific steps to overcome a habitual fault. He presents us with opportunities to mortify ourselves for love of Him and our neighbor.
We meet Christ in all these different ways. Will we follow Him? To what extent? Will it be wholeheartedly, or do we put limits on answering His call? Do we try to toe the line despite His clear statement that if anyone wishes to come after Him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24)?
When will we follow Christ? Today, now, in the present moment? What if we lived each day as if it were the only day we had left? How would we respond?
Amber Kinloch
Amber writes from the bunker of her living room. There she hunkers down with her laptop and a blanket while keeping an eye and ear tuned in to the activity of family life. Music set on loop keeps her energy flowing as she muses on the deeper happenings of ordinary life and what food to restock the fridge with.
Thank you for the confirmation