By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
The ultimate call of a Christ-ian
25th Sunday in Ordinary time – September 24, 2023
Isaiah 55: 6-9; Philippians 1:20-24,27; Matthew 20: 1-16
To live Christ… grammatically it may sound a bit strange, but that seems to be the message from the Word this Sunday. We are called to be Christians – a call that contains within it so many other intermediate calls, each of which has its own difficulties and challenges. To live Christ is not merely living with Christ, it is also living like Christ, and finally living Christ, that is, make Christ live in and through us!
To live with Christ – to live with Christ is a call that all of us have basically received. We may be called in different ways and at different stages in life. Just as the labourers were called to the vineyard in the parable that Jesus narrates to us, each of us has his or her own story and circumstances of having been called. Whatever be the story or the circumstance, the basic fact is we are called. We are called to live with Christ. It does not matter from when, how long, and in what role, but only thing that matters is being with Christ. In fact as the Gospel of Mark indicates to us, Jesus calls us “to be with him and to be sent out” – the fundamental call is living with Christ.
That is more easily said than done, because living with Christ is not that easy! Living with Christ means, living with Christ in his call, his mission, his choices, his priorities, his values. Living with him does not mean just being around, but truly being with. One who is not with me is against me, said Jesus (Lk 11:23). The more we make choices, have priorities and hold on to values that are contrary to those of Christ, we are not with him. When we are not with him, we are against him – we do not gather, we scatter; we do not build but we destroy the Reign of God at its foundations.
To live like Christ – to live like Christ cannot be automatically inferred from living with Christ. There were the disciples who lived with Christ, but it took time and effort for them to live like Christ. Holding on to the mission of Christ, his choices, priorities and values is one thing, but doing so, just as he did is another call altogether. It is in no way simple, because it is difficult to understand Christ. Just as we see in the parable of today, justice in terms of Christ is different from the normal parlance. It does not follow the logic of uniformity, but that of compassion and sensitivity to every individual person.
The life-long task of living like Christ is a challenge indeed. It means learning from Christ. It requires a very close understanding of Christ, knowing how Christ would respond to any particular situation or any particular exigency. It is eargerly listening to the voice of Christ, what he would intruct us and what he would expect of us. It is trying deliberately to imitate Christ in his obedience to the Father, in his choice for the least and lost, in his readiness to suffer for the other, in his total dedication to Truth – all of these done in love and with love. As one can see well, this task is so challenging and it takes us easily to the ultimate call of our life: living Christ.
To live Christ – to live Christ is to become Christ! It is not just listening to Christ, but thinking as Christ would think. Thoughts are personalities; we are what we think. We may do something, manifest something and express ourselves as something – but we are what we think! That is why the Lord tells us today through Isaiah, “my thoughts are not your thoughts; my ways are not your ways.” The ultimate call that a Christian has is to become Christ, that is to have the very thoughts of Christ – to have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16 and Phil 2:5). To grow in our similarity with Christ, not just in what we do and what we show ourselves to be externally, but in our innermost thoughts. That is to be internally and totally transformed into Christ.
This is the meaning of what Pauls exclaims: Life to me is Christ! To live is to be Christ. It would mean avoiding anything in our everyday lives that would be unworthy of the Gospel of Christ. It is to have the mind of Christ, the logic of Christ, the mentality and the perspective of Christ in all that we think! It is to think Christ, it is to live Christ, manifest Christ in our very lives. It does not matter when we realise that call or when we decide to respond to it, we are called to become Christ, to be transformed into Christ, to live Christ.
Living with Christ we learn to live like Christ. The more we strive to live like Christ, the more we become Christ and we begin to live Christ, wherever we are. And that is our ultimate call as Christ-ians: to live Christ.
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He has completed his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.