Discovering God’s dream by following and imitating Christ

“With the invitation ‘Follow me!’ (Mark 1:17) Jesus presents himself as a guide who knows both the destination and the way to reach it; he offers at the same time to those whom he calls, communion of life with him and the example of how to tread the way he indicates” (The Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Bible and Morality, n. 46). In doing so, we will be discovering and living the Dream of God.

Following Jesus

“The path traced by Jesus is not presented as an author­itative norm imposed externally. Jesus himself walks along it and asks no more of the disciples than to follow his example. Moreover, his relations with the disciples do not consist of dry and disinterested lecturing. He calls them ‘sons’ (John 13:33; 21:6), ‘friends’ (John 15:14-15), ‘brothers and sisters’ (Matthew 12:50; 28:10; John 20:17) […].

The relationship of Jesus with his disciples is not some­thing limited in time, it is a model for all generations […]. All members of all peoples to the end of the age are destined to become Jesus’ disciples. The relationship with and the experience of Jesus’ person lived by the first disciples and the teaching imparted to them serve as a pattern for all ages.”

The Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Bible and Morality, n. 46.

Imitating Christ

On the other hand, the practice of imitating Christ is part of an uninterrupted tradition in the Church. It originates in Christ’s own invitations, who during his earthly life asked his disciples to follow his example through words like: “learn from me” (Matthew 11:29), “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15) and “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

“learn from me”

“I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you”

“love one another as I have loved you”

Now, since the Christian “is nourished in a healthy way” (Dei Verbum, n. 24) through scriptures, an authentic imitator needs to nourish his or her understanding on the practice of imitation by the experience of the first disciples and of the early Christians. The primary resources for this nourishment are the writings of the New Testament. 

In doing so, one will have an opportunity to purify one’s actual practice of imitation by confronting it to the style suggested by Christ as interpreted by the first disciples.

Following the example of Christ in allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit

Authentic imitation of Christ leads the Christian towards a lifelong conversion in Christ during which one “fight[s] the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12), and “train[s oneself] in godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7) to “Let the same mind be in [oneself] that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). This happens with the aid of the Holy Spirit, since “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3; cf. Romans 8:9).

As this Spirit guided Jesus throughout his life—through him was conceived (cf. Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:35), started his public ministry (cf. Matthew 3:16), acted, spoke, rejoiced (cf. Luke 10:21) and offered himself up (cf. Hebrews 9:14)—this same Spirit continues to guide the Christian today. 

This is possible because the Father through Christ (cf. John 14:26) poured the Spirit on his disciples (cf. John 20:22).  Now, this Spirit, who dwells in the heart of the Christian (1 Corinthians 6:19), and is the spirit of Christ, leads us back to the Father, since “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ” (Galatians 4:6).

Moreover, this Spirit brings to our remembrance all that Christ did and said (cf. John 14:26); thus, it is He who makes possible the actual encounter with the episodes of Christ’s life during imitation. 

This Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Truth (cf. John 15:26) who guides the disciples into all the truth (cf. John 16:13).  And since this truth can never contradict the teachings of the Church (cf. 1 Timothy 3:15), the individual can secure the authenticity of one’s imitation by living according to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Accordingly, an authentic practice of imitation is always lived in Spirit and Truth (cf. John 4:24).

Doing like Christ, the Will of the Father in everything

During his earthly life, Christ sought to do the will of the Father in everything: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work” (John 4:34, cf. 6:38).

This will which was the conscious aim of Christ from his adolescence (Luke 2:49) is manifested in a particular way at the beginning of his ministry (Matthew 4:4, 10) and in his teachings (Matthew 6:9-10, Mark 12:28-30).  For Jesus, there was no compromise with this Will (Luke 16:13). He is obedient to it even when asked for his own life (Luke 22: 42). 

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work”

And, since “those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28), every person is predestined to be guided by the Holy Spirit to glorify God by doing His will in the Church. As the Holy Spirit guided Jesus to do the will of the Father, this same Spirit who dwells in our heart (1 Corinthians 6:19), prompts the person from within to do the will of Father, since “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).

Authentic guidance of the Holy Spirit leads to this will, since “when the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost so that He might continually sanctify the Church, and thus, all those who believe would have access through Christ in one Spirit to the Father” (Lumen Gentium, n. 4).

Furthermore, living in the presence of Christ also leads to this will, since “For Jesus, the climax of this life and actions was the Father, his living in union with the Father. He lived for the Father, with the Father, and in the Father; that is why he took on himself the mystery of the Passion, till its climax in his death on the cross” (The Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Bible and Morality, n. 138). More than this, “Christ proposed to His disciples this form of life, which He, as the Son of God, accepted in entering this world to do the will of the Father” (Lumen Gentium, n. 44).

Thus, if a person authentically imitates Christ in Spirit and in Truth, automatically he or she has nothing more and nothing less than to let Christ impress on oneself this desire to seek and fulfil the will of the Father in everything.

Allowing Christ to live in us through His imitation

The spiritual journey of imitation is nothing more and nothing less than the following of Christ in a progressive movement from imitation through intimacy towards a conformation with Christ in which the individual cries out,  “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ’s Call to his disciples manifests this journey. 

“With the invitation ‘Follow me!’  (Mark 1:17) he presents himself as a guide who knows both the destination and the way to reach it; he offers at the same time to those whom he calls, communion of life with him and the example of how to tread the way he indicates” (The Bible and Morality, n. 46).

The main resource for conversion indicated by Jesus, more than an effort to accept and apply of his teachings, is a call to stay in his presence (cf. John 15:1-10) and consequently learn from his example (cf. Matthew 10:24-25; 11:29; John 13:15;14:6;15:12). Now, since Christ assured that he will be with us “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), this conformation due to intimacy continues to be the model for all generations. 

Christ for the individual is “not only the perfect model, but the efficacious model” (John Paul II, Jesus is our model, General audience, 17 Aug. 1988). He is the way, truth, and life (cf. John 14:6).  Outside this intimate relationship, imitation is rendered to an outward imitation to re-produce the behaviours, thought patterns, and attitudes of Jesus (Cf. Veritatis Splendor, n. 21).

Christ for the individual is “not only the perfect model, but the efficacious model” (John Paul II, Jesus is our model, General audience, 17 Aug. 1988). He is the way, truth, and life (cf. John 14:6).  Outside this intimate relationship, imitation is rendered to an outward imitation to re-produce the behaviours, thought patterns, and attitudes of Jesus (Cf. Veritatis Splendor, n. 21).

Accordingly for the practice of imitation is fruitful, more than an effort to do something, the individual is invited to acknowledge and stay in the presence of Christ:  “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5; cf. Philippians 4:13).

Familiarising with the words and deeds of Christ in scriptures

In obedience to Christ’s Call to leave everything behind to follow him (cf. Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; etc.) and encouraged by his commands to follow his example (cf. Matthew 11:29;  John 13:15; 15:12); in accordance with the uninterrupted tradition which from the beginning invited Christians to follow the example of this “perfect man” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22. 38. 41. 45. Cf. Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:5; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Peter 2:21);  and aware that this same Christ is present in this world (cf. Matthew 28:20) through the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthian s 12:3; Romans 8:9) and that the mysteries of his life are rendered present during the reading of the Gospels with the help of this same spirit (cf. John 14:26): the Christian could collaborate with the grace of imitation by directly trying to observe in the Gospel texts the different aspects of Christ’s performance.

In this way, the Christian will be more open to the example of this Divine model so that by his, Christ’s own efficacy, the person will be purified from that which is not Christ. A purification which brings out the Christ already impressed within the Christian (Galatians 4:6) through creation and baptism.

In doing so, the individual has to pay attention that the studied Gospel is understood on its own terms, and interpreted within the teachings of the Church.

pay attention that the studied Gospel is understood on its own terms, and interpreted within the teachings of the Church.

Being faithful to the Church

“False paths will be avoided if actualization of the biblical message begins with a correct interpretation of the text and continues within the stream of the living tradition, under the guidance of the Church’s magisterium”

PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL COMMISSION, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, n. IV, A, 3

“Authentic interpretation of the Word of God […] has been entrusted to the living teaching of the Church alone”

Dei Verbum, n. 19

Moreover, it is “The Church, ‘the pillar and bulwark of truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15) […that ] guards the memory of Christ’s words.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 171.

Thus, if an individual fails to pay attention to the teachings of the Church in interpreting the words and deeds of Christ, he or she runs a high risk of misinterpreting the Gospel texts narrating the words and deeds of Christ.  For this reason, during imitation one has to make an effort to interpret the latter in communion with the Church, “that is, with all the great witnesses to this word, beginning with the earliest Fathers up to the saints of our own day, up to the present-day Magisterium” (Benedict XVI, Address to the Students of the Roman Major Seminary, 17 Feb. 2007, n.1).

According to the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum this includes an effort to “investigate what meaning the sacred writer intended” together with appropriate attention to the “content and unity of the whole of Scripture […], the living tradition of the whole Church […and] the harmony which exists between elements of the faith” (Dei Verbum, n. 12).

Restlessly renewing one’s mind

The reading of the Gospels for imitation within the Church remains an intellectual activity if not translated into an effort to renew one’s mind (thinking, feeling, acting,…) according to the words and deeds of Christ.

This renewal consists of an effort to stay in a process of discernment, through which the Christian, prompted and sustained by the Holy Spirit, gradually puts aside the mind of this world (cf. Romans 12:2) and replace it with that of Christ (cf. Philippians 2:5). The aim of this renewal is to “discern what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2). 

In reading the Gospels to imitate Christ, the person, “individually but also as a member of the community” lets oneself to “be moved and challenged” (Verbum Domini, n. 87) by the words and deeds of Christ.  

Transformation due to an encounter

The imitation of Christ is a gift of God that has to be freely accepted with an attitude of faith, hope and love.  Its source is Pascal Mystery (cf. Romans 6:3-5), through which Christ is not merely the perfect model, but the efficacious model.  The immediate principle is the Person of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the heart of the Christian and prompts from within the growth in Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). Additionally, the cause and purpose of this practice is the plan of the Father to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).  

Due to this essential role God has in the transformation of the Christian, the person conforms one’s mind with that of Christ only through a profound relationship with God in Christ.  This relationship is achieved through prayer and contemplation.

Thus, as Christ maintained this prayerful relationship with the Father continuously during his earthly life (Matthew 11:25; Mark 14:36; Luke 23:34.46; John 11:41; 12:27; 17:1.5.11.21.24.25), the individual who wants to conform his or her mind with that of Christ, has to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), “night and day” (1 Thessalonians 3:10).  

The fruit of imitating Christ: being his witness

“Everyone in the Church, striving to imitate the Divine Master, can and must bear witness” (John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, n. 42). Thus, authentic imitation of Christ is not a self-enclosed or narcissistic spiritual activity but is lived in the Church and for the service of the Church, society and the world. 

This is because “The one whom the Father has sent to do his will (cf. John 5:36-38; 6:38-40; 7:16-18) draws us to himself and makes us part of his life and mission. The Spirit of the Risen Lord empowers us to proclaim the word everywhere by the witness of our lives. This was experienced by the first Christian community, which saw the word spread through preaching and witness (cf. Acts 6:7).

Here we can think in particular of the life of the Apostle Paul, a man completely caught up by the Lord (cf. Philippians 3:12) – “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) – and by his mission: “woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16)” (Verbum Domini, n. 91).

This is a call for everyone, and thus every person according to his or her own gifts (cf. Romans 12:6), opportunity, ability, charism and ministry (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10) has to make an effort to witness to Christ with confidence and constancy (cf. Acts 4:13, 29, 31; 9:27, 28; 13:46; 14:3; 19:8; 26:26; 28:31; 1 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 3:12; 7:4; Philippians 1:20; Ephesians 3:12; 6:19, 20).

This could happen through a good example to others (1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:14; 3:7, 9; Philippians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 4:16–17; 11:1; Hebrews 6:12; 13:7), as well by pastoral action directly intended to promote the words and deeds of Christ.  All this “should be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40) within and according to the Church.