The Decision

 

I subscribe to The Cavalier Chronicle, and it carries its weekly homily on Page 7, and I copy it below and comment on it. Its was published on 1/15/25, and its title was If I But Call Your Name?

 

Homily: Jesus calls you to follow Him, so abruptly you leave behind your successful business, your income and and your family. It’s an unlikely scenario.”

 

My response: Jesus calls each of us to follow Him, take up our cross as individuating, living angels and follow Him, and usually that will not require us to abandon our successful business, your income and our family, all worthy responsibilities not to be frivolously cast off.

 

People joining a mass movement or cult are required by their guru master to abandoned everything right now, and the true believers do, but I do not believe that is what Christ meant, though there may be emergencies, like one’s nation at war or under attack, when one is called to serve right now and leave everything behind, but that is a rare scenario, and, once the danger has passed, one should again shoulder one’s local  and familial burdens.

 

For me, a more likely and reasonable scenario is that we shoulder those local and familial burdens while also following Jesus and the good deities as a living angel. These dual requirements are not easy or painless, but one must shoulder heavy, even painful, dangerous burdens at times to serve God. This is how we can really follow Jesus.

 

Homily: “What will it take for you to follow—really follow—Jesus? Wrestle with that question this week in church.

 

And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Mark 1:14-20.”