The Summons

My morning scripture and meditation was from the Gospel of Mark, chapter three, verse thirteen – Jesus appoints the twelve.

Verse thirteen reads:

“He… summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him.”  

My heart-felt sentiment was, “How beautiful!”  He, Jesus, summoned those He wanted, and what did they do?  They came to Him.  

Jesus is constantly summoning each of us.  

By God’s grace, He is patient with us, and loves us more than we will ever know.  His Heart’s desire is to delight in us; to make each of us feel as if we are His favorite.  

As I pondered these beautiful words from the Gospel, the hymn The Summons, came to my mind.  When reading the words of this hymn, I found its relevancy for each of us.  

The Summons  - Lyrics:

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In Your company I’ll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me..”

Again… beautiful.  He summoned, and they came to Him!  

On this beautiful feast of the Annunciation (and every day that follows), my sincere hope is for each of us to listen and respond with a joyful, “Yes!” to Jesus’ summons.

AMDG
+JMJ+

Come to Me

Kristen M. Soley

Many of us seek peace. We desire to feel truly loved and long for authentic inner joy. Jesus is the source of peace, love and joy. He can make us holy, provide comfort in hardships, strength in weakness, peace in doubt, and companionship in abandonment 1. He is the author of life and desires only that we have life in abundance. Furthermore, He gave His life on the cross that we may enjoy these treasures, eternally. Unfortunately, he can only accomplish this if we come to Him. He cannot do any of the above without our consent and cooperation.

Jesus is most happy when He is able to lavish His gifts upon us, but we must ask Him to do so. A good friend told me that God is a gentleman and will not force Himself upon us. We must invite Him into our lives. We need to come to Him in prayer and welcome Him in; we must open the door, outside of which He has been patiently knocking and waiting.

As Christians, we believe the Bible is the source of truth and our handbook for living a Christian life. It teaches us to know, love and serve our Lord, that we may be happy with Him in heaven, eternally. Scripture is laden in one simple request from Jesus, “Come to me.”

• “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt. 11:28 NASB)
• “Enter into the joy of your Master.” (Mt 25:21 NASB)
• “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40)
• “Come, and you will see.” (Jn: 1:39 NASB)
• “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1 NASB)
• “…You will have treasure in Heaven; and come follow me.” (Mk 10:21 NASB)
• “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” (Jn 7:37 NASB)
• Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” (Mt 14:28-29 NASB)

The joy Jesus receives when we come to Him, is commensurate to the suffering He endures from our rejection. We hurt Jesus when we continually reject His love and graces. His Passion, in part, is comprised of our rejection of both His love (which leads to sin) and His grace. He loves us so dearly and longs for us to be with Him eternally. As my spiritual director explained, “Jesus is relentlessly pursuing us, all of the time.”

In The Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by Louisa Piccaretta, she writes of Jesus’ Passion and suffering for us,

My child, after I had given everything, I wanted this lance to open in my Heart a refuge for all souls. Once opened, my Heart will cry out continuously to everyone, “Come to Me if you wish to be saved. In this Heart you will find sanctity. It will make you holy and you will find comfort in hardships, strength in weakness, peace in doubts, and companionship in abandonment

Then your voice becomes stronger, saying: “O souls who love Me, if you really wish to love Me, come to dwell always in this Heart. Here you will find true Love with which to love Me. Here you will find ardent flames to burn and consume you completely in my Love."1

In Isaiah 55, we read, “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” Jesus is the fount of life, we cannot drink of this grace, His grace, unless we approach the fountain. He so desires to satiate our thirst for love, for peace, for joy. Mary, our Mother, is our guide to this water, she is praying for us, constantly, all of heaven is!

One of the beautiful sisters from the Poor Claire Monastery in Sauk Rapids wrote to me in a letter, “For those who may be slow to believe, Jesus then, many times, also invites us to come to Him for life, for love, for joy.” She concluded her letter with, “Let us believe and rejoice in the love God has for us.”

When we do finally come to Him, we are assured that nothing can separate us, St. Paul teaches us in Romans Chapter 8, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The one constant we have in our lives is that Jesus loves us. Regardless of how we feel and behave. He is our peace and our life, He assures us that if we remain in Him we will find peace. 2 In order to remain in Him and receive the gifts He so desires to lavish on us, we must first come to Him. The joy we receive in His grace, is indescribable.

The best way to come to Jesus is to invite Him into your life. If you have never done this, here is a simple prayer that allows you to personally invite Him, thus enabling you to come to Him. 

Prayer of Surrender

 

Dear Lord Jesus,

Please come into my heart, and be the Lord of MY LIFE.

Be my God and my Savior.

Please send me your Holy Spirit to make me your disciple.

Thank you for giving up your life for me.

Now I give my life to you.

 

The Miracle Prayer is also a great invitation.

 

Sources:
1. Hours of the Passion – Louisa Piccaretta
2. Imitation of Christ - Thomas a. Kempis

All for - +JMJ+