Come After Me

“He said to them,

‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”

Matthew 4:19

Is there someone in your life whose presence changed your life? Perhaps a spouse, a child, or a best friend? We can all agree, I think, that there are some people who come into our lives and leave a lasting imprint or mark. In addition to those listed above, maybe a mentor, someone whom you look up to, or a teacher. There are also some people who may come into your life and stay for only a short while, yet their impact or influence on our lives are permanent and enduring. Who are those people for you?

“Come after me” were the words Our Lord spoke to Simon and Andrew as they were casting their nets into the waters of the Sea of Galilee. These three words, and those that followed, changed the lives of Simon and Andrew forever. Notice that it was the Lord who first approached them. It was Jesus who first sought them out in the place of their work, in the place of familiarity. Then, after hearing the Lord’s invitation “Come after me” Simon and Andrew “immediately” or “at once left their nets and followed him” (Mt. 4:20). The Lord seeks, finds, and calls, but there must be a response that follows. For Simon and Andrew, it was trading in their physical nets for spiritual nets with which they will fish men, gathering people from diverse backgrounds to heed the same call they first received, “Come after me.”

Likewise, the Lord seeks us in our place of familiarity and comfortability and He invites us to accompany Him on a journey that will forever change our lives. But He will not force us or drag us. It is our choice, but we must make a decision. It is a decision that is not once and done. It is a daily choice, a momentary choice, a continuous choice. We must make the decision to choose to say “Yes, Lord, I will follow You” every day and every moment of our lives, and when we do our lives will never be the same. However, there will be times when it will be so much easier to ignore the call or even say “Not now, Lord. I’m a bit busy. I know You understand.” Those are the moments when we must pause and instead say, “Lord, I am really struggling to say yes to You today. Give me the courage to” and trust that He will.

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is known as the “Sunday of the Word of God,” in which we are invited to pay particular attention to the Word of God, to take a few extra moments to really listen to the Word of God with our hearts. Today we are invited to take in the words Jesus spoke to Simon and Andrew — “Come after me.” Where might the Lord be calling us? How will we respond? Let us always remember that the invitation, “Come after me,” presupposes one very important truth: the One who calls goes before us and never ceases to be with us. He says “come after me” not “go your own way” or “take this and go,” but rather, “come after me,” assuring us that it is He who leads us.

On a side note, today is also Chinese (Lunar) New Year. How providential is it that it coincides with the Sunday of the Word of God this year, prompting the people who celebrate this New Year to do so with the Word of God, to begin this new year first by listening to the Word of God and then to follow the Word who has been made flesh in our daily lives.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord comes to find us today and He says to us, “Come after me.” What will our response be?

Role of Christians

“I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel."

John 1:31

While he was baptizing in the Jordan, John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John the Baptist recognized that the One approaching him was not simply another person wishing to be baptized with water for the forgiveness of sins, but rather He was the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and the One who “existed before him.” Many truths are held in the few verses presented in this encounter and exchange between John and Jesus. It reveals who Jesus is and who John is. It reveals who we are and who we ought to be.

Jesus was younger than John the Baptist, yet he says Jesus “existed before him.” How can that be? St. John is trying to tell us something about the nature and identity of Jesus — He existed before John the Baptist because He has always been One with God, revealing to us the truth about the Trinity, one God, three Persons, consubstancial and that never was there a time when the Son was not (being). John the Baptist’s proclamation that Jesus is the Lamb of God ought to remind us of the Passover and Exodus when the Angel of Death upon seeing the lamb’s blood on the doorposts, passed over the homes of the Israelites, leaving them unharmed while striking down the first born of the Egyptians. Just as the blood protected the Israelites from death, so too will the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, save us from death and bring us into eternal life, a life that is free, a life that is with God.

John the Baptist said “but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” This sums up the role of all Christians: we ought to make Jesus known to all. John the Baptist was baptizing and preaching not because he wanted to show off his great oration skills or gain a following of people, but because he knew his life and mission was to be a sign, a sign that pointed to the greatest Sign — Jesus Christ, the Son of God, upon Whom the sin of the world will be assumed and conquered once and for all. All that John the Baptist did pointed to Christ and made Him known. As Christians, we ought to do the same. Our lives and all that we do should point others in the way of Christ. How? Not necessarily like how John the Baptist did, but by love. Do our thoughts and actions reflect the love with which God loves us? We can imitate John the Baptist in saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God” and point to the Cross all we want, but if there is no love in our hearts, that becomes nothing more than an empty gesture. Brothers and sisters, may our lives and our entire beings point to Christ and make His Presence known to all.

God Made Manifest

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.”

Matthew 2:9b

Today the Church in the United States celebrates the Epiphany, when we remember the arrival of the Magi or the Wise Men and their presentation of gifts to the Infant Jesus. On a deeper level, the Epiphany is the day when God was made manifest to the people — not just to the Jews, but to all people and all nations, as symbolized by the visit of the Magi from afar.

In that little manger held a most fragile infant. A baby born without the luxury of post-natal care or other medical care. A baby born in a filthy stable and laid in a cold manger wrapped only in scraps of swaddling clothes. This is the way God chose to be made manifest to us: in weakness, in vulnerability, in rejection, in poverty, and in adversity. Our God is a God who stands with us and chooses to be with us in our weakness and trials. Even as the Infant was being born, His life was sought after already by King Herod. From the very moment of the Infant’s life to His final moments, the Lord’s life was at stake and was sought after. God was made manifest in a way that encapsulates the depths of human suffering and the trials one might and must endure in life. In every way, God became man. God became man to tell us that He is truly Emmanuel, “I am with you in every way, every step of the way.”

It was the star that led the Magi to the Infant Jesus. As learned men, they would have seen countless stars, yet this one was different. So different that they were willing to leave their homes, their places of comfort and security, to set off for a long journey to a distant place to see where this star would lead them. They knew at the end of their journey the would find something and someone amazing, Someone to whom they must bear gifts. They also know they would walk away from that encounter changed, where life would never be the same. Brothers and sisters, when we choose to leave behind in comfort what is familiar we will always be led to what is greater, and that to which we are led, we will come to possess: God Himself.

Are we aware of the stars that surround us? What are those stars that we look upon and follow? Do they lead us to Christ or do they lead us away from Christ? Let us identify those stars in our lives — people, places, things — (among them the Church) and allow them to lead us to the Infant Jesus who is God made man, who is God made manifest to us, reminding us that He is with us, in our joys and sorrows, health and sickness, sufferings and trials.

Brothers and sisters, let us look up at the sky and the nature that surrounds us today and may we be reminded of the Creator who created and placed all those things there for our joy, the same Creator who was wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid sleeping, fragile, and vulnerable in the manger. God has made Himself manifest to us. Will we journey to the depths of our hearts, to the spiritual Bethlehem’s in our brothers and sisters to find Him?