Reflection
To ignore the information gained in more than 2000 years and try to live according to a blueprint of the past is not productive. The example of the life and vision of Jesus is a distinctive way of relationship rather than a static command. This is a guide for how we should act within the circumstances of the 21st century. As people of our own times we are to apply the spiritual insights we learn from the life of Jesus to our own living. He dared to challenge things as they were, pointed to a better way, and promised to send the Spirit who would be a teacher and guide for the future. The Spirit still speaks in our times. It is our responsibility to see the signs and listen.
Prayer
May I live in imitation of Christ.
Action
What response to my own circumstances does the example of Jesus set for me? How can the gospel teaching best be applied to present times? Where might I see signs of the urging of the Spirit?
Suggested Reading
For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
John 13:15
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Luke 6:40
Let us ask ourselves today: Are we open to “God’s surprises”? Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit?
Pope Francis
The Holy Spirit stays with the Church to guide it, the tradition says. But in that case, we as institution and we as individuals alike must open to that guidance, no matter the direction from which it comes.
Joan Chittister
Each era and culture is discovering truth through its own lens, vocabulary, and symbols. Consciousness is never a mere personal possession, but as the Latin root (con-scire: to know with) indicates, it is first and foremost a shared experience, and it is the Holy Spirit who is the Sharer!
Richard Rohr
The story of Jesus does not tell us what to directly do in our circumstances, but attending faithfully to that tuning fork we are in a position to hear what God summons us to accomplish in our own time and are given strength to do it while we have life.
Anne E. Patrick
Nothing is more important for mature Christian discipleship than a fresh, clear, true vision of the authentic Jesus.
John Stott
Let us follow Jesus as our One and Only Model.
Charles de Foucauld
To follow Jesus implies that we enter into a way of life that is given character and shape and direction by the one who calls us. To follow Jesus means picking up rhythms and ways of doing things that are often unsaid but always derivative from Jesus and formed by the influence of Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we can’t separate what Jesus is saying from what Jesus is doing and the way that he is doing it.
Eugene H. Peterson