The Temptation of Looking Back
There are two things that catch my attention in this Gospel: First, that Jesus and his disciples are always traveling, and Second, his constant meeting with new followers. He tells some, “Come and follow me”; others instead promise him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Doesn’t the same thing happen to us at the important moments of life? Let’s try to find out what Jesus is trying to teaching us.
The Lord is on the Move
His public life is a continuous coming and going through the land of Israel, bringing the good news of salvation and preparing for his arrival in Jerusalem, where his mission will reach its climax with his death and resurrection. One day, we also left our town and started walking, as if we were following an inspiration. We put ourselves in God’s hands and little by little we started discovering our destiny. He was leading us by the hand, showing us new projects. Have we realized that our life only has meaning if we seek to do God’s Will?
What does it mean today to be a Christian?
A Christian is one who finds in Christ the highest reason for living. Perhaps we have told him, “I will follow you wherever you go!” But He warns us, “Anyone who follows me will suffer want, tiredness, and will have no place to lay his head.” God calls everyone, but not everyone answers right away. Some people make excuses. It is so easy to want to be generous and put conditions, “I will follow you, but... let me say goodbye.” And Jesus answers, “Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not worthy of me.” It is as if we gave him the keys of our life and allowed him to enter our house and live there, “but don’t go into this room, or sit in this chair, or open these closets.”
Gandhi was right when he noticed our incoherence.
He used to say, “I like Christ, but I don’t like Christians because they don’t live like Christ.” In our lives, we have left things in the past, some of them very good, but when we have made a fundamental option for Christ, all we can do is look forward. Our happiness depends on our complete self-giving, even though it may be countercultural or difficult. We can be sure that we will never be alone, because Christ will be with us until the last day of our lives.
Jesus is radical, and expects us to give ourselves completely. Being a Christian today takes courage and fortitude, because we need to overcome sentimentalism and our personal plans. The option of living according to Christ’s commandments makes everything else fall into second place: work, use of time, entertainment, money. Oftentimes we will have to go against the current, when faced with customs, styles, opinions that are not in agreement with the Gospel. Only the person who understands that “the one thing necessary” is God will be able to understand this; after that, everything else becomes relative. Brothers and Sisters: We only have one life to life! It’s worth living it for the one thing necessary in life. My life is for God!