Of course we cannot imitate exactly the action of the Gospel today.
There are some people, from time to time, who leave everything immediately to follow Jesus.
But it is more realistic to decide – simply but with dedication – to start again with Jesus.
The disciples left everything. But all of us can probably surrender something, so that we can follow Jesus more deeply.
For example, this Sunday is the Sunday of the Word of God across the Catholic Church. Can we spend less time with our electronic entertainment so we have more time for Jesus in His Word?
This week is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Can we spend less time defending our opinions and other things that cause division, and more time working for unity? “Let there be no divisions among you,” Paul says today in the second reading. “Be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”
But the big thing is to make a new start, and let the Spirit of Christ lead you from there. In the fifth century, a deacon, named Arsenios, one of the great desert fathers of the church, prayed this way. See if you can’t find yourself in this prayer:
“My God, do not abandon me. I have done nothing good before you, but grant me, in Your compassion, the power to make a start. Amen.