“I will follow you…wherever you go.” As Luke's Gospel says, those words were spoken to Jesus by an unnamed “…someone.” The fact that the person isn’t named allows us to see ourselves as that person.
Each of us, whether using those words or simply by our actions, such as being at this Mass, has communicated our willingness to follow Jesus. As we know, this is a lot easier in a church, a seminary, or a retreat than once we walk out into the other realities and responsibilities of the world.
Jesus intimates this when He says, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” But He doesn’t stop there, He says to another person present, “Follow me.”
Jesus is very upfront about the challenges, but at the same time, He offers an invitation that contains hope if we choose to travel with Him. Yet, we can be like the men who sought to place conditions on following Jesus. By our standards, the two men had reasonable requests to attend to first: burying a father or saying goodbye to family.
Difficulties with Commitment
I suspect that Jesus, who is all-knowing, saw beneath these requests to hearts that were not ready to follow, but merely excuses to delay committing. If you notice, they didn’t ask Jesus to go with them to bury a father or say goodbye to family as had other people of faith.
So the question for us is: how do we let go and take the leap of faith in following Jesus each day?
How do people get married and make vows? How do priests or religious make vows or promises? How do laypeople, religious, and priests choose to serve as missionaries? And how do people like Father Peyton’s nieces—whom I saw this week—decide to leave good jobs and return home to care for their elderly mother?
Eye Has Not Seen
The common denominator is that each person loved someone or some people enough—to take a leap of faith and make a commitment—inspired by God.
As I was writing this homily, I remembered a hymn titled “Eye Has Not Seen” and found it on YouTube sung by the University of Notre Dame folk choir. It is a beautiful and moving reminder of what it takes to follow Jesus. It combines a sense of trusting that God will lead us in His loving way, yet it acknowledges prayerfully that we need God to reveal His wisdom and love.
When you have a minute, listen to this beautiful rendition. Let it remind you about whatever you need to let go of to follow Jesus—but also what you need to ask from God…to go with Him each day, wherever He leads.
- Father David's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday–Friday. Consider inviting others to join, too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
