Letting go, leaving behind, and following Jesus

Our gospel reading yesterday morning should have sounded very familiar.  It included the same gospel pericope we had a day earlier, except that this time it was the version from Matthew (8:18-22) rather than Luke (9:57-60). 

Jesus again calls us to follow him completely.  He calls us to be his disciples even when it is contrary the expectations and demands of society, friends and family. 

St. Junípero Serra followed Jesus in this way.  He was a Franciscan friar who left the comforts of Spain to be a missionary in what was is now Mexico. When the religious were expelled from there, he traveled to California.  In California, he established nine missions and shared the Catholic faith with the indigenous people there.  He baptized many thousands of people.  The methods he used to evangelize were sometimes not what we would accept today.  However, he also defended the human rights of the indigenous. 

Today there is a statue of St. Junípero at the United States Capitol.  We pray that through his intercession we may also be missionary disciples who are dedicated to the proclamation of the gospel to those who do not know it and to those who may have forgotten, and that we always do it with respect for people’s cultures and experiences.