Walking with Jesus

Do you ever think about what it was like for the disciples to walk with Jesus, about how amazing and life-changing it would have been?  Today, 2,000 years later, we too are called to walk with Him.  Thinking about our lives as disciples today, we must ask ourselves, are we walking with Jesus?  Yesterday, June 17th, I had the opportunity to reflect on this question for 7 ½ miles, as I physically walked with Jesus as part of the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.  As we walked with Jesus, present in the Eucharist, I thought about what it means to really walk with Jesus and if I am actually doing so in my life.

I think walking with Jesus means asking Him to be with us and calling upon Him to lead us through each day, whatever we may face.  It is a desire to hear and listen to His voice, rather than the voices of the world, trying to lead us astray.  It is to keep praying and to keep moving forward with trust in Him.  It is to lift each foot, one step at a time when our crosses feel too heavy and asking Him to help us carry them.

It’s easy to walk with Jesus when it’s convenient, easy, and when we feel close to Him.  But a true test of our faith is whether we walk with him when people criticize us, when we face challenges, or when we feel far from Him.  Are we committed to walking with Jesus at all times and through all circumstances, to live as disciples in every moment of our days?

Yesterday, I was reminded that walking with Jesus is to live in a continued awareness of His presence and to know that He is with us always.  And once we got to the church for the second Holy Hour of the day, one of the songs that was sung struck me as a powerful prayer that I need to be praying every day.  As we sang the song “Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All, the refrain was, “O, make us love Thee more and more.”  The more we love Jesus, the more closely we will walk with Him.

May we all strive to love Jesus more and more, always aware of His presence, so that we will walk with Him through each day, living as disciples.  It will be life-changing!