When we read the Word with a desire for Jesus, we always get something clean out of it. It is, truly, a lamp that goes on illuminating our Christian life journey.
In the call to the first disciples, we hear that they IMMEDIATELY left the nets, the boat, and their family and followed Jesus. That assertion is repeated: IMMEDIATELY. Without thinking, blindly, trusting from the beginning in the one who was calling them. They did not stop to think about the consequences, about how they were going to live, about what would become of the family fishing business. They were swept away by the invitation of Jesus and launched themselves into the void of a life full of questions.
The believer in Jesus, the follower, needs this great confidence. You can’t live the Christian life always calculating the risk, wanting to have everything tied up and secure, living a faith of calculated conditions. Following Jesus demands a certain courage, a wholehearted leap, a free adherence without calculations.
Perhaps this sounds very beautiful but unthinkable for us. Maybe one can build a more confident faith that leads to a more immediate response. Let’s think about the possibility of these paths:
· Step forward: Don’t hide behind the fact that you already fulfill coming to Mass and leading a normal life. Perhaps something more is being asked of you. And you know what the Bible says: “If today you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.”
· Step out of the anonymity of the crowd: We have been taught to live our faith massively, in large groups. We think that if many of us come to Mass, things are going well. It would be better to come, each one, willing to get involved in Christian life, regardless of the crowd.
· Put your name on something in your parish or Christian community: sign when you have to sign, fill in your details in Caritas direct debits, opt for some of the parish groups contributing some of your time, which is what we find most difficult.
We should keep something obvious in mind: the gospel wants followers more than admirers. Admiring Jesus, being captivated by the values of the gospel, saying that we feel surprised by the kind and giving profile of Jesus is fine. But the gospel seeks people who roll up their sleeves to act, followers who take steps in life, people who go changing their way of living, even if it’c just a little. As long as we continue only admiring Jesus, we will not have taken the decisive step.
One of the current ways to take steps of a believer is to sign up for some social volunteering because being a volunteer is an optimal way to be a follower of Jesus. You can be a volunteer for Caritas, for the health pastoral, for parish catechesis. These are channels offered by any Christian community. But there are other ways to be a volunteer in our society. Christians should seriously consider the issue of volunteering. Perhaps it is the most practical way to be a follower/ in immediate ways in our time.
Fidel Aizpurúa Donazar
January 25, 2026
English version translated with AI