ON LEAVING EVERYTHING

A couple of readings at mass this week have made me reflect on the idea of ¨leaving everything" in order to follow Christ. Since I ´m late getting to my blog post this week, I will offer a meditation on the subject that I wrote a couple of years ago.

I’ve been reflecting on this verse off and on since it occurred in the mass lectionary for Sunday, Feb 6, 2022: After Peter, James and John had made that miraculous catch of fish that almost sank their boats, Luke tells us that “They left everything and followed [Jesus]” (Lk 5:11).

I’d like to share two trains of thought that sprang from my studying two different words in the original Greek text.

LEAVE “EVERYTHING?”

in Mk 1:16–20 and Mt 4:18–22 the fishermen who follow Jesus leave their nets and their father; in Luke, though, they leave everything (you might recognize the Greek word for "all": panta). I wondered why Luke’s version  was different from the other two gospels, especially since Luke’s gospel was written after Mark and borrows a lot from that gospel. Well, it turns out that Luke changed it to “they left everything” quite on purpose. Look at these verses from later on his gospel:

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind,  he got up and followed him.” (5:28)

Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. (12:33)

In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. (14:33). 

(Jesus says to the rich young man:) “There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (18:22)

These verses, like the one we began with, are a clear demonstration of one of Luke’s main themes: complete detachment from material possessions.

But for me as a monk, that’s too easy -- I don’t really have much of anything as far as material possessions. For me the question is, “What are the things in my life that hold me back, that weigh me down as I try to follow Christ? My pride? My attachment to my job or to my public image? This makes for a good examination of conscience, and could be done every day.  

“LEAVE” EVERYTHING?

After reflection on the force of the word “everything,” I looked at the verb “left.”

Again the New Testament Greek offered a good insight. The verb aphiemi means “dismiss, leave, divorce, reject, stop an activity, etc.” What truly captured my imagination was the fact that this is the verb that Matthew uses when Jesus dies on the cross. It reads literally “He uttered a loud cry and let go of his spirit [my translation)]. (Mt. 27:50) Jesus utterly abandons himself to the Father in complete trust. This is the same word Luke uses in our passage when the first apostles “abandon” everything in order to follow Jesus. 

Am I ready for this kind of “letting go?” No holding on even by a thread, no safety net, no insurance policy. What kind of “letting go” does Jesus expect of me when he invites me to follow him? Would my life look much different if I took his invitation seriously?

I offer these questions to you in the hope that they might provoke you to reflect on your own way of responding to Christ’s invitation to “Come, follow me.” 

The apostles, after all, “left everything,” right?