Come, follow me…
Saturday, June 11th, 2005June 12, 2005 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Green
First Reading: Exodus 19:2-6a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100
"We are his people, the sheep of his flock."
Second Reading: Romans 5:6-11
Gospel: Matthew 9:36 - 10:8
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."
Let me share with you an anecdote by one of my favorite authors, Andrew Ma. Almonte:
A pagan magician accidentally came upon a Bible. He read about the miracles of Jesus and was inspired by these stories that he decided to imitate Christ and asked to be baptized.
On the way to the Church, he saw a funeral procession. Imitating Christ, he stopped the procession and went to the coffin of a young boy. The magician uttered his magic words over the dead body. Suddenly, the dead was restored to life. After this, the magician continued on his journey.
When he was in the village, he saw a gathering of the poor. All they had for food were five loaves of bread. The magician went to them and multiplied their bread by his magic. He felt so happy for he had imitated Christ again.
Finally, he reached the river where, on the opposite side, was the Church. He used his magic and walked on the water. He felt deep satisfaction for he imitated Christ once more.
"I have imitated Christ," he said to himself. "Now, I can be a Christian."
The pagan magician reached the Church and presented himself to the priest. "Father," he said, "I want to be a Christian."
"Do you know what it means to be a Christian?" the priest asked him.
"Indeed, your reverence," he replied boldly. "In fact, I have imitated Christ’s miracles. I brought a dead man back to life, multiplied bread, and walked on water."
"Tell me, son, can you love your enemies, serve your neighbor, carry your cross, and deny yourself?" asked the priest gently.
"That’s absurd!" the pagan protested. "Only fools will do that!"
"But, son," the priest answered, "that is what it means to be Christian."
Hearing this, the pagan magician walked away. He could not be a Christian.
It is easy to imitate the miracles of Christ. But people think if they imitate these deeds, they would be called Christians themselves. Yes, it is easy to be imitators of Christ, but very hard, especially in these challenging times, to be imitators of his love. As the saying goes, "Madaling tawagin ang isang tao Kristiyano, ngunit mahirap magpaka-Kristiyano." As the priest said, being a Christian means to love your enemies, serve your neighbor, carry your own cross and to deny yourself. It does not take to be a Christian just merely to follow the miracles of Christ, but it takes a lot to follow the love that the miracles of Christ show.
In today’s gospel, Jesus calls people whom he calls apostles to his vineyard. There are many listeners to his preachings but there are a few who lead them. Christ begins to name apostles to help him in his ministry. In contrast to our anecdote, Jesus teaches his disciples first how to be Christians. He tells them that they are to "cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons," without receiving anything and without asking for something in return. This is to be done out of love for the brethren.
Being a disciple is hard. You have to love your enemies and forgive them for what they have done to you. You have to serve your neighbors, doing something for their benefit without something in return. You have to carry your own cross, carry your burdens but rest assured, Jesus will make them light. You have to deny yourself, and follow and accompany Christ on his way to Calvary. These are just some of the many conditions to discipleship. And the twelve, primarily, accepted these.
You, are you ready to be a disciple of Christ?
