​Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

My dear friends,

A hymn that I am quite fond of is “The Summons.” It is about the call to discipleship and was written by John Bell and Graham Maule of the Iona Community from Scotland.  First published in 1987, it is set to the tune Kelvingrove, a traditional Scottish melody.  The lyrics contain thirteen questions asked by Jesus in the first person:
 
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.
 
In this weekend’s Gospel taken from Mark 1:14-20, Jesus asks this very question to Simon, Andrew, James, and John, the first apostles.  Yet, Jesus asks this very question to each and every one of us – his disciples, and even more profoundly, to future disciples.  We are all called to follow Jesus Christ, who extends this personal invitation in our hearts.

You might say there is a magnetic pull to follow Jesus.  This was the case with the first apostles, who left everything behind to follow the son of a carpenter.  Does Jesus call and invite us in 2024?  Absolutely yes!  All of us.  Some may fight and resist it.  Yet when we respond to that call Jesus has the power to transform our lives and to transform our hearts.  That leads to happiness, a happiness that cannot be found in anything else here on earth.  That happiness is found in a personal relationship with the Saviour, Jesus Christ.  The sooner one responds to that call and invitation, the sooner one can experience a foretaste of heaven here on earth.  That quite simply is what I want for each and every one of us!

Rest assured of my prayers for each of you and those that you love.  Keep safe and warm.

Fr. Greg