Matthew 8: 18-22
When Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Follow me…
Social media has given a whole new meaning to the notion of following. “How many followers do you have?” “Do you follow (fill in the blank)? “Are you following…” “Wow, did you see how many followers they have!” It is not my intent to deride social media, however it is the word follow that caught my attention in today’s Gospel. I felt the challenge of this Gospel – to what or to whom do I give my attention on a daily basis? Who do I follow? How am I doing in my desire to follow Jesus?
This is the grace we ask for in the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises: to get to know Jesus when he was a human being so that we might follow in his path. It is captured in the prayer: “Lord, grant that I may see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly.” Are there things in my life that I might need to set aside so as to declutter the path?
—Ann Holmquist serves as the Vice President for Mission at Loyola High School of Los Angeles.
Prayer
Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day
Day by day by day by day…
—Lyrics to “Day by Day” by Stephen Schwartz from the musical Godspell.
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Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.