A short time ago, thanks to the podcast by Jeff Cavins, I discovered that the Gospels speak of “following Christ” more than 80 times. Jesus himself repeats it on many occasions, sometimes in an invitational way, “...".“Follow me at”and others indirectly, “he who follows me shall not walk in darkness...” (Jn 8:12).
However, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, after Pentecost, the accounts focus on the words “to live in Christ”. It is the Pauline affirmation of “it is not I who live, it is Christ who lives in me.”. That “in me” It is not only Paul, we are also every Christian, saved one hundred percent by the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
Christians are not “followers" of Christ, as we might be followers of a philosophy or a soccer team. We are Christ. We are part of his mystical Body, but really, physically, with our foot and pant size. Christ acts through us. This is the amazing reality of the Christian. Following Christ belongs to the Kronos, to measurable temporal space; to live in Christ belongs to the Kairos, to the event of every encounter with Christ, as Benedict XVI recalled with these unforgettable words in Deus Caritas Est.
Following Christ is part of our life, but it is not enough. To be Christians is not to let ourselves go, to say “amens” more or less consciously, but to be active disciples, people who act “in” Christ and through whom “things happen”. “Through Christ, with Him and in Him.”, says the priest at every Mass in which we are “sent” in this way: with Him and in Him.
In a world in which more and more people have never heard of Christ, the Son of God can be found in a butcher's shop, on a bus or at a library table through that half-witted Catholic who sits next to him.
In the Creed, we appeal to the “life-giving” Holy Spirit. In his Apostolic Letter In unitate fidei On the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Pope Leo XIV recalls the need for the Creed to become alive in the lives of Christians, serving as a guide for witness: “The liturgy and the Christian life are therefore firmly anchored in the Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creed: what we say with our mouth must come from the heart, so that it is witnessed in life. (...) The Nicene Creed then invites us to an examination of conscience. What does God mean to me and how do I bear witness to faith in Him?”. It is amusing to think that God asks us to be joyful. Perhaps because joy is also one of the characteristics of those who want to be Christ in this world.
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