All through our life Christ is calling us. He called us first in baptism, but afterwards also; whether we obey his voice or not, he graciously calls us still.
If we fall from our baptism, he calls us to repent; if we are striving to fulfil our calling, he calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness, while life is given us.
Abraham was called from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office, Elisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat; we are all in course of calling, on and on, from one thing to another, having no resting place, but mounting towards our eternal rest, and obeying one command only to have another put upon us.
He calls us again and again, in order to justify us again and again—and again and again, and more and more, to sanctify and glorify us.
It were well if we understood this; but we are slow to master the great truth, that Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by his hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us follow him.
We do not understand that his call is a thing which takes place now. We think it took place in the Apostles’ day; but we do not believe in it, we do not look out for it in our own case.
We have not eyes to see the Lord; far different from the beloved
Apostle, who knew Christ even when the rest of the disciples knew
him not. When he stood on the shore after his resurrection, and bade
them cast the net into the sea, “that disciple whom Jesus
loved said to Peter, It is the Lord.”
Now what I mean is this: that they who are living religiously, have
from time to time truths they did not know before, or had no need to
consider, brought before them forcibly; truths which involve duties,
which are in fact precepts, and claim obedience. In this and
such-like ways Christ calls us now.
There is nothing miraculous or extraordinary in his dealings with
us. He works through our natural faculties and circumstances of
life.
Still what happens to us in providence is in all essential respects
what his voice was to those whom he addressed when on earth: whether
he commands by a visible presence, or by a voice, or by our
consciences, it matters not, so long as we feel it to be a
command.
If it is a command, it may be obeyed or disobeyed; it may be
accepted as Samuel or St. Paul accepted it, or put aside after the
manner of the young man who had great possessions.
We need not fear spiritual pride in following Christ’s call,
if we follow it as people in earnest. Earnestness has no time to
compare itself with the state of others; earnestness is simply set
on doing God’s will. It simply says, “Speak, Lord, for
thy servant heareth; Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Oh
that we had more of this spirit! Oh that we could take that simple
view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before us
is to please God!
Let us beg and pray him day by day to reveal himself to our souls
more fully; to quicken our senses; to give us sight and hearing,
taste and touch of the world to come; so to work within us that we
may sincerely say, “With your counsel you guide me, and at the
end receive me with honor. Whom else have I in the heavens? None
beside you delights me on earth. Though my flesh and my heart fail,
God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:24-26)
Parochial and Plain Sermons 8, 23-25.31-32
Newman, John Henry (1801-90) was born in London
and brought up in the Church of England. He went up to Trinity
College, Oxford in 1817, became a Fellow of Oriel five years
later, was ordained deacon in 1824 and appointed Vicar of Saint
Mary’s, Oxford, in 1832. The impact of his sermons was
tremendous. He was the leading spirit in the Tractarian Movement
(1833-41) and the condemnation of Tract 90 led to his resignation
from Saint Mary’s in 1843. Two years later he was received
into the Catholic Church. He was ordained in Rome and founded a
house of Oratorians in Birmingham. Newman’s
Essay on the Development Christian Doctrine throws light
on his withdrawal of previous objections to Roman Catholicism; his
Apologia reveals the deepest motives underlying his
outward attitudes, and the Grammar of Assent clarifies
the subjective content of commitment to faith. In 1879 he was made
a cardinal and he died at Edgbaston in 1890.
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Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels - Year B, pp. 124-125.
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