When Jesus Asks for Everything

The sequela Christi is at the heart of what it means to be Christian. St. Ignatius of Loyola was a mercenary soldier engaged in battle. When a cannonball shattered his leg, his forced convalescence obliged him to think about his life decisions. He was bored to death. He asked to read everything available in the house. First, he read stories of knights-errant, with tales of rescuing princesses and battling dragons. Eventually, the fantastical literature ran out, and he was forced to read the more spiritual literature available. When reading the lives of the saints, he began to see that they were heroes as well. There was a path to be a hero that did not involve taking up arms and looking for a fight. The question that pestered his soul was “If they could do it, why couldn’t I?”

He began a spiritual journey of conversion, the fruit of which he wrote down as his Spiritual Exercises, which have nourished the spiritual lives of great saints and ordinary sinners for the last several hundred years. At one stage of the retreat, he invites the participant to pray to get to know Christ to the point that he can’t help but love Him, to love Him to the point that he can’t help but follow Him. We don’t want to try to follow Christ as a mere moral decision, but rather as a response to his great love. This is what happens to the disciples when Jesus calls them to follow Him more closely.

Jesus was embarking on a new stage of his mission, and He chose to call men He encountered along the seashore of the Sea of Galilee.

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt. 4:18-19).

Jesus was asking them for everything. This was not just an invitation to a weekend retreat, but a summons to reorder their entire lives around Him. This is what it means to follow Jesus. Everything changes in our lives when we follow Christ. Pope Benedict XVI referred to this at his Mass for the Inauguration of his pontificate.

Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life (Pope Benedict XVI, 24 April 2005).

What does opening the doors to Christ look like concretely? We reorder our lives around Christ when our following of Him impacts deeply the way we use our time, talent, and treasure.

First, we look at how we use our time. Is there a set time in our weekly schedule for time for God? The absolute, bare minimum is our weekly Sunday Mass. On its own, however, this is usually insufficient to become true followers of Christ. We need to make sure that we are also spending time every day in prayer. Maybe we work in daily Mass a few times a week as part of our ordinary way of giving priority to God.

Second, we look at how we invest our talents. If you are a great soccer player, what does this have to do with your relationship to Christ? You are honest and hardworking, supporting your teammates. If you have a good voice, consider dedicating time to participating in the choir. What are the talents you have, and how are you going to respond generously, putting those talents at the service of Christ?

Finally, we can look at our treasure. How do we use our material means for the good of the Kingdom? What we have, we possess for the good of others. St. John Chrysostom would comment that after we have what we need for our necessities and decorum in our lives, everything else belongs to the poor. The Church’s precepts remind us that we are supposed to support the material needs of the Church.

When we hear Christ say, “Follow me,” may the question that once stirred the heart of Ignatius also stir ours: If they could do it, why couldn’t I?