Follow me.

A simple command. Not a command, really. An entreaty, a beckoning. Come this way.
We hear it often. The advertisers say it: Follow me to a good deal. The patient teacher uses her outdoor voice to corral a wiggly gaggle of third-graders on their way in from recess. The tour guide encourages a foot-sore group to experience yet another historic site. 

It seems pretty simple to be a follower.  We let someone else lead the way. But it’s not so simple when it is Jesus beckoning us to follow him.  When Jesus says, “Follow me” to Simon Peter and the apostles and to us, it means more. It means everything.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks Simon Peter three times if he loves him. At the last time, Peter says: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” 

When Jesus says follow me, he starts with love, a love that can help us find our way. The journey won’t be easy for the apostles like Simon Peter. Jesus asks Peter to tend his sheep and feed his lambs. Jesus says the way won’t be easy. We also must tend to his sheep and feed his lambs. When we follow Jesus, we have to follow with our hearts, our souls, our minds. We have to expect roadblocks, setbacks, detours. When we follow with love, we can climb over the roadblocks, recover from the setbacks and maneuver the most winding detour.

I am ready to follow. As I continue my journey, I echo today’s psalm: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name.”

This reflection is from our archives, written by Carol in 2010.