Come and Follow Me!  
Real love is demanding. I would fail in my mission if I did not clearly tell you so. For it was Jesus—our Jesus himself—who said : "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn 15 :14). Love demands effort and a personal commitment to the will of God. It means discipline and sacrifice, but it also means joy and human fulfillment.
 
Dear young people : do not be afraid of honest effort and honest work; do not be afraid of the truth. With Christ's help, and through prayer, you can answer his call, resisting temptations and fads, and every form of mass manipulation. Open your hearts to the Christ of the Gospels—to his love and his truth and his joy. Do not go away sad!
 
And, as a last word to all of you who listen to me tonight, I would say this : the reason for my mission, for my journey, through the United States is to tell you, to tell everyone—young and old alike—to say to everyone in the name of Christ: "Come and follow me !"
 
Follow Christ! You who are married: share your love and your burdens with each other; respect the human dignity of your spouse; accept joyfully the life that God gives through you; make your marriage stable and secure for your children's sake.
 
Follow Christ! You who are single or who are preparing for marriage. Follow Christ! You who are young or old. Follow Christ ! You who are sick or aging ; who are suffering or in pain. You who feel the need for healing, the need for love, the need for a friend—follow Christ!
 
To all of you I extend—in the name of Christ—the call, the invitation, the plea : "Come and follow me". This is why I have come to America, and why I have come to Boston tonight: to call you to Christ—to call all of you and each of you to live in his love, today and forever. Amen!  – Pope Saint John Paul II, excerpt from the Homily at Holy Mass on Boston Common – Apostolic Journey to the United States – October 1, 1979
 
Christ is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!
 
Happy Easter! 
 
Our beloved Pope Saint John Paul II, in his first Holy Mass in America spoke these powerful words, addressing young people – although, not exclusively and filled with plenty of wisdom for each of us.  The Gospel reference is to the Rich Young Man – quoting from the account given by Saint Mark (see Mk 10:17-31) – which he had offered several reflections upon throughout his pontificate, especially in Veritatis Splendor.  Along with this Homily, each is worth reading through in their entirety – the words of Saint John Paul II are worthy of prayerful reflection, even years after they were written.
 
 
What struck me, upon first reading of this is the emphatic call to place Christ first within your life – to make Christ the one who is your example, teacher, guide, mentor, savior… that Christ would lead you in every circumstance: this is what it must mean to follow Christ, that he would always lead.  That Christ is not merely an example among many.  Nor is Christ presenting some good ideas that could be helpful.  Nor are the words of Christ a suggestion or optional encouragement.  Saint John Paul II is not making Christ one of many that could be followed for a happy and prosperous life, not at all.  Rather, our Pope of happy memory is clearly re-inviting the faithful to take seriously the words of the Lord and to live according to them for their salvation and the salvation of others.  This is a plea for all of the faithful to make everything and anything else second, third – subordinate – to the Lord Jesus and to humbly encounter the God and follow Christ.  This includes, no doubt, relationships and activities. 
 
It seems to me that these words of important for each of us to hear, to receive, and to take seriously.  That many of us, at least in our attituded, are like the character from the Gospel and we may have developed a worldly comfort, a complacency in this age.  However, each day we are confronted with the Lord and have the ability to make a choice about today, tomorrow, and our eternity.  If we deny this reality – the ability to change and make choices – we condemn ourselves to a pre-determined outcome of rejecting our Creator.  This is a serious principle, it must be understood: we have free-will, we can make choices, and with the grace of God our thoughts, words, and actions can open our life to the rewards of Heaven.  Thus, our ability to change is essential if we believe we can receive the rewards of our redemption in Christ.  To put this another way, albeit a negative example, if we say ‘this is just who I am’  we are condemning our ability to improve, grow, and even to renew our hope in the Lord through choosing the limits of our past as our only vision of the future.  No matter how good our past, this is an action that refuses of the presence of God’s Grace to be present again; and this refusal means that one’s own real ability to choose has been forfeited.  To deny free-will it is to reject the new opportunities to encounter Christ, today in the moments of life yet unknown.  Often times, the phrase ‘this is just who I am’ is used as a half-hearted excuse.  We don’t really mean all that it implies, it seems… but isn’t that one of the great tactics of the Devil: to get us to make a small choice against God’s Love and then continue to repeat it until we have drifted away from the life of Christ?  Our words matter, our attitude is important, and our ability to make choices has an incredible significance.  These words of Saint John Paul II in his first Homily in America, so many decades ago, call us to live as authentic Disciples of Christ and to allow Christ to change our life.  “Come and Follow Me!” These words, if taken seriously, we make us vibrant members of the Mystical Body of Christ, saints in a fallen age.  To head the wisdom of Saint John Paul II will lead us to ‘love one another, as Christ has loved you.’
 
 
Christ is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!
 
 
 
Know of my prayers for you, please pray for me!
 
Father Wilke
 
Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer, pray for us!