January 26, 2014 - 3rd Sunday, Ordinary Time, Year A
Saint Martin de Tours Catholic Church
We are always noticing others:
what they say, how they act,
the way they look, how they dress,
the way they smile, their laugh,
how they interact with others.
Toward many, we’re indifferent,
They neither attract us, nor do they repel us.
Toward some, we’re repelled.
We do not like the way they act.
We do not like the way they treat others. There are things about them that offend us.
Toward others, we’re envious.
We want their good looks, their personality, we want to be as successful or as athletic or as popular as they are.
We want their good looks, their personality, we want to be as successful or as athletic or as popular as they are.
We might even secretly try to be like them.
Then, there are those to whom we gravitate.
They are our mentors. And, in a
sense, we are their disciples.
We learn from them.
Sometimes these people are unaware that we’re secretly taking cues from
them about how we should act, how we should behave.
Finally, there are those who fascinate and attract us:
Those we see thinking and feeling and acting in ways which we, at this
present moment, are not capable of thinking and feeling and acting. And we want to be like them.
In the Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as a fascinating person.
We want to know more about him.
We want to know where his power to attract comes from.
I mean, after all, Jesus walked right into the lives of Peter and
Andrew, James and John and said, “Come follow me.”
What’s remarkable is that that they did, without question, without
hesitation. They became his disciples.
And while they might not have realized it at first, somewhere along the
way they realized that Jesus was the Lord, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of
God.
Once they recognize that Jesus is Lord. Then they realize that leaving
everything behind to follow him was the right choice.
Jesus has the power to attract and fascinate us. So, we face the same decision, don’t we? To follow or not.
That’s why we’re here: to learn from Jesus, to take our cues from him.
We listen to what he says. We
look at the way he acts and how he treats others, and we want to be more like
him.
As we learn from him, he changes us.
So that when he says, “Come, follow me” we can eventually do it, without
hesitation.
Maybe we can’t today.
Maybe we haven’t been changed enough yet.
But eventually, Jesus will walk onto the seashore of our lives and say,
“Come, follow me.”
And we will leave everything behind and follow after him.