Come Follow Me

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 2012
Gospel of Mark 1:14-20, January 22, 2012
Homily by Deacon Joe Stackhouse


The story of Jesus calling Peter and his companions in today’s gospel is a rather dramatic story that Mark sums up in just a few lines. The pattern is similar to the other gospel accounts of this encounter. Jesus suddenly shows up in ordinary circumstances, apparently as a stranger, and initiates a conversation with the disciples. Without much fanfare and quite unexpectedly, Jesus invites them to follow him, to take a different path in life.

Jesus provides no details and no hint as to what this might mean for the disciples. The goodness and love of Jesus are so magnetic, however, that the disciples immediately stop what they are doing and do as Jesus says. They begin to follow him. They show no hesitation in placing their trust and confidence in Jesus. Were this to happen today, we would consider their response in such circumstances downright irrational.

And yet, Jesus extends exactly this invitation to us today in much the same way, except that Jesus is no stranger to us. We know more about Jesus than his first disciples knew. Even so, Jesus calls everyone to follow him when he says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it” (Lk 9:23-24). Jesus’ challenge reflects an ancient call to conversion based on fidelity to God as the foundational principle and structure of our lives (cf. 1 Sm 12:14).

Often our response, however, is to choose the lesser god, just as the rich man chose to keep his possessions rather than sell them all, give to the poor, and follow Jesus (Mt 19:21-22). Thus, we have a persistent need for conversion. As Jesus demonstrates with the call of the first disciples, God always takes the initiative. He does not wait for us to look for him; he comes looking for us in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. Following Christ begins with this personal encounter with Jesus, a personal call from God. The encounter compels a response from us. The way we get up and live our lives is in fact our response to this divine call.

In practice, conversion is a life-long journey to manifest the image of God in our lives. Conversion is a central theme in Scripture and key to a biblical understanding of human nature. From a biblical perspective, the mystery of humankind cannot be understood apart from the mystery of God (Congar). This is what motivates St. Paul to claim that, because Christ himself is the perfect image of God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3), we must conform ourselves to him (Rom 8:29). According to Paul, our conversion comes about through the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:23). And, Jesus guarantees the outcome in defining himself as the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6).

Following the way of Jesus is a choice and commitment that we deliberately fulfill through our love for others that stems from, and is determined by, our love of God. Love is the overarching moral principle and measure of all human action. Christ emphasized the preeminence of this principle when he said that the greatest commandment is to love God with one’s whole heart and soul and one’s neighbor as oneself (Mk 12:28-34; Mt 22:37-40).

Christ did more than simply call attention to a similar commandment found in Deuteronomy (cf.Dt 6:4-6). Christ made love of God and neighbor his own commandment and enriched it with a new meaning. He did so by equating Himself with each of us as the object of love when He said, “As long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me” (Mt 25:40). In this way, Christ “bound the whole human race to Himself as a family through a supernatural solidarity” (Congar). From this standpoint, he established charity as the chief mark of His disciples, saying, ‘By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’” (Jn 13:35).

Love binds us to each other and to God in a dynamic, interconnected relationship. The result is that whatever we do for the “least of his children” we do to and for Christ himself (Mt 25:35). Jesus’ teaching clearly shows that God abides in each human being, and thus whatever we do for the “Other”, we do for God. Likewise, whatever we do to the “Other”, we do to God.

Jesus’ teaching about love of God and neighbor is profound and often challenging because it requires us to see others with the eyes of the soul. With secular eyes, many of the “least” don’t look as we imagine God. Many of the least may look to us, at worst, as demons, and at best, as unproductive and lazy. The least may frighten us, be different from us, or seem undeserving. Serving the least from the perspective of Christ is counter-cultural. Lobbying for the least also may be viewed as unpatriotic.

By contrast, Jesus shows us that we are all equals in our need for love and concern (Lk 10:30-37). In this sense, we are all the least of his brethren. Jesus invites us to do as he does by showing love and compassion for our companion sojourners, however difficult and costly, for this is the true nature of his love. When we follow Jesus, we pattern our spiritual lives after the example of Jesus. We put on the mind of Christ, as St. Paul says. Then we are able to see things as Jesus sees them, with the eyes of love, and be the kind of person Jesus is.

The one major goal of Jesus on earth was to do the will of his heavenly Father. Following Jesus means doing the same thing. We can do the will of God by believing in Jesus and imitating his actions and values in our own lives. Our call is to verify the image and likeness of God in our lives by loving God and loving others as ourselves.

Jesus calls us to this kind of conversion because he wants us to be like God. Jesus continually calls us to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect by following in his steps and imitating him (Mt 5:48).