23 JUNE (Lk 9,18-24)

Who really understood what Jesus reveals to his disciples today is St. Paul. For the Apostle of the Gentiles there are not two lives: that of Christ and the Christian that conforms to that of Lord Jesus, but only one life: that of Christ Jesus that must be lived entirely in the Christian. The Christian becomes this way the life of Jesus in history. Who sees the Christian sees Jesus that today lives his ministry of salvation to all men.

But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? Of course not! But if I am building up again those things that I tore down, then I show myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing (Gal 2,17-21).

And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory. It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of his power working within me (Col 1,21-29).

One mystery, that of Jesus that must be fulfilled totally, fully in each of his disciples. The Christian way is not a new ascetic morality updated to the times, a high and difficult meditation and a theology that leads the mind beyond the clouds to the throne of God. None of this. The Christian life is observation, imitation, comparison, strong desire, longing of the heart to revive the actual life of Jesus in the today of this history which is always far from its truth which is Christ the Lord. However, the imitation of Christ must not be a repetition of the Master’s life. Instead, it is a powerful guide and a constant illumination of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ may live today in ways and forms of today, not according to the ways and the urgencies of yesterday.

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

The Holy Spirit moves, inspires, advises and leads each of his disciples to give to Christ a personal, actual and true life. This is the Christian beauty: this special, particular and unique “incarnation” of Christ in every one of his disciple and of the disciple in Him, with Him, for Him. If we do not start from this singularity, never might we be true imitators, true followers of Jesus the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the truth of our discipleship, in the same way the Holy Spirit was the truth of the discipleship that Christ did of the Father. Without the Spirit of God we can also repeat some gesture of Jesus, but we will certainly never imitate him. We cannot because we do not obey.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints teach us how to imitate Jesus.