3rd Sunday of the Year, IC 2:8,
It’s a bit shocking to ponder
the apostles abandoning their families, their homes and their jobs to follow Jesus
on an instant. Shocking only until one recalls that they were yielding
themselves to a grace that recognized Jesus as the One sent by God. They were
not leaving behind a good life and the good things of life for something less.
They were out to grasp what is lasting, enduring and the one thing that is of
ultimate consequence. They were seeking not a thing, really, but the Person who
alone answered the desire of their every longing.
I remarked last week that the
portion of the Imitation of Christ that now comes our way is among my
favorite pages of this work. The chapter entitled, “On Close Friendship with
Jesus” identifies, it seems to me, the very heart of
our Christian religion since, for us, Christ is ‘our everything’. I can do
justice to this passage only by quotation; its majestically-phrased sentences
do not require commentary. I hope you too will find the unction of its words
appealing and moving. I quote:
When Jesus is with us, all is
well, and nothing seems hard; but when Jesus is absent, everything is
difficult. When Jesus does not speak to the heart, all other comfort is
unavailing; but if Jesus speaks a single word, we are greatly comforted.
How arid and hard of heart
you are without Jesus! How foolish and empty if you desire anything but Jesus!
Surely, this is a greater injury to you than the loss of the whole world!
Whoever finds Jesus, finds a
rich treasure, and a good above every good. He who
loses Jesus, loses much indeed, and more than the whole world. Poorest of all
men is he who lives without Jesus, and richest of all is he who stands in favor
with Jesus.
It is a great art to know how
to hold converse with Jesus; and to know how to keep Jesus is wisdom indeed. Be
humble and a man of peace, and Jesus will abide with
you. But if you turn aside to worldly things, you will soon cause Jesus to
leave you, and you will lose his grace. And if you drive Him away and lose Him, ?with whom may you take refuge, and whom will you seek for
your friend? Without a friend, you cannot live happily, and if Jesus is not
your best friend, you will be exceedingly lonely. It is better to have the
whole world as your enemy, than offend Jesus. Therefore, of all dear friends,
let Jesus be loved first and above all.
Love all men for Jesus’ sake,
but love Jesus for Himself. Jesus Christ alone is to be loved with a special
love, for He alone is the best and more faithful of friends. In Him, and for
His sake, love both friend and foe, and pray to Him for all of them, that all
may know and love Him.
Do not wish to become the
object of especial praise and love, for this belongs to God alone, who has none
like Himself. Do not desire that the heart of anyone be given wholly to
yourself, and do not yield yourself wholly to the love of another; rather, let
Jesus abide in you, and in every good person.
Thomas a Kempis
seems here to have the same fire of Christ’s love burning in his heart that
must have been in the souls of the first Christians who felt the ardor of that
early love. When the disciples withdrew from their former lives and followed
Christ, they were being drawn not by a natural affection or on account of the
conviction in their minds alone. There was a supernatural grace, an impulse
from God that attracted them to Him.
All our holy Catholic faith,
all our preaching and religious educating, our vast history and impressive
expanse throughout the world is of no consequence to you unless you are intent
on Christ, and devoted to Him. Is this not what’s missing in the empty lives of
so many people? How it came about that they lost the fervor of faith is not
hard to discern. All the once praiseworthy controls that admonished Catholics
not to become worldly, not to fit in with the crowd and be enamored of the
attractions of evil, have all but disappeared. Jesus used an apt expression
when He spoke about this. ‘You,’ he said, ‘are the salt of the earth. But if
salt loses its savor how can it be restored? It is good for nothing but to be
trampled upon.’
Don’t lose the salt of your
love for Jesus. Don’t quit the practice of reverence for God, the respect of
His sacred name and the sense of His supreme majesty. You will have to answer
to God for yourselves someday and you will not be able to excuse yourselves
from the practice of the devout life on account of the what
others may not be doing. Historically, Catholics have been the most valiant
when more opposed, most observant when laxity is the rule. Don’t fear to stand
apart. Carry within you always the love of Jesus.