June 2004

Jesus has just decided to begin the long trip to Jerusalem where he will have to fulfil his mission (see Lk 9:51). Others want to follow him, but he warns them that to go with him involves a serious choice. It will be a difficult journey, one that demands his same courage and determination to carry out the Father’s will to the very end.
He knows that their initial enthusiasm might be followed by discouragement. He had just told them the parable of the sower: the seeds that fell “on rocky ground” represent those people “who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial” (Lk 8:13).
Jesus wants people to follow him in a complete and determined way and not just up to a certain point, sometimes saying “yes,” sometimes saying “no.” Once we have set out to live for God and his Kingdom, we cannot go back and take up where we left off, living as we did before, thinking only of our own narrow interests:

«No one who sets a hand to the plough and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God»

When Jesus calls us to follow him – and everyone, in different ways, is called – he opens up to us such a new world that it’s worth it to break with the past. At times, however, we are overcome by sentimental afterthoughts, or we are influenced and pressured by popular lifestyles that are often in conflict with the Gospel.
And this creates problems. On the one hand, we want to love Jesus; on the other, we feel like giving in to our weaknesses, to indulging ourselves, to taking up again our mediocre way of living. We would like to follow him, but we are often tempted to turn back, to retrace our steps, or else, to take one step forward and two steps back.
This Word of Life highlights the need to be consistent, to persevere and be faithful. If we have experienced the freshness and beauty of living according to the Gospel, we will see that nothing is more contrary to it than indecision, spiritual laziness, compromise, half measures, and a lack of generosity. Let’s decide to follow Jesus and to enter into the wonderful world he opens up to us. He promised that “whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).

«No one who sets a hand to the plough and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God»

What should we do, then, so that we don’t give in to the temptation to look back?
First of all, we shouldn’t give in to self-centeredness (let’s leave it in our past) when we do not want to work as we should, or study with commitment, or pray well, or accept a difficult and painful situation with love, or when we feel like making negative comments about someone, being impatient with someone else, or taking revenge. We must say “no” to these temptations, even up to ten or twenty times a day.
And still that’s not enough. We won’t go very far only saying, “No.” We need, above all, to say, “Yes”—yes to what God wants and to what our brothers and sisters expect from us. And great surprises will be in store for us.
I remember one experience I had during World War II. On May 13,1944, a bombardment had damaged my house so badly that we couldn’t live there any longer. My family and I had to take refuge in the woods nearby. That night I cried because I realized that I would not be able to move away from Trent with my family whom I loved deeply. By this time I had already met my first companions and I knew that the Movement was coming to life. I couldn’t abandon them.
Would the love of God be able to resolve even this situation? Would I have to leave my relatives on their own – I, who was their only financial support? I did it with the blessing of my father.
Many years later I learned that as the rest of my family left the city and headed off in the direction of the mountains, they experienced a sense of great peace, and before long they found a very suitable living arrangement.
I went looking for my friends among houses and streets reduced to rubble. They were, thank God, all alive. We were offered a small apartment. Was it to be the first focolare? We didn’t know it then, but in fact it was.

«No one who sets a hand to the plough and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God»

Let us always go forward towards the goal before us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus (see Heb 12:1-2). The more we are in love with him and experience the beauty of the new world he gave life to, the more we will lose interest in the things we left behind.
Let’s repeat every morning when we begin a new day: “Today I want to live better than yesterday!” Something else might also be helpful: let’s try counting our acts of love for God and for our brothers and sisters. Then in the evening we will find our hearts full of happiness.

Chiara Lubich