Your Vocation, Your Witness: The Freedom of Following

Voice over by Bro. Paschal

Acts 28:16-20.30-31, Psalm: 10, Jn 21:20-25

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

As we journey through these final days of the Easter season, the Church gives us two portraits of faithful discipleship. One is Paul, under house arrest in Rome, yet boldly proclaiming the Kingdom. The other is John, the beloved disciple, whose unique path becomes a source of curiosity for Peter. Both readings invite us to a profound freedom: the freedom to embrace our own vocation without comparing it to another’s, trusting that the Lord’s plan for each of us is exactly what we need.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke paints a surprising scene. Paul, the great missionary, is now under house arrest in Rome. He is chained to a soldier, unable to travel freely. By human standards, his ministry seems halted. Yet what does Luke tell us? “He received all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.” Chains do not silence him. House arrest becomes a pulpit. The Gospel spreads from the very heart of the empire, not despite Paul’s imprisonment, but through it. Paul does not waste energy lamenting what he cannot do; he does what he can do—receive, teach, proclaim. His witness is not diminished; it is redirected.

In the Gospel of John, Peter, freshly restored by the Risen Lord, receives his commission: “Follow me.” But as he turns, he sees the beloved disciple following. Peter asks, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus’ response is gentle but firm: “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” Jesus does not satisfy Peter’s curiosity about John’s destiny. He redirects Peter’s gaze to his own path. The beloved disciple, tradition tells us, lived to an old age in Ephesus, dying a natural death—a very different journey from Peter’s crucifixion. Both were faithful. Both followed. But their paths were not the same.

Here is the great temptation of the spiritual life: comparison. We look at another’s gifts, another’s success, another’s apparent freedom from struggle, and we ask, “Lord, what about them?” Jesus answers, “What concern is that to you? You follow me.”

Pope Francis has often warned against spiritual envy and the paralysis of comparison. He says, “The Lord has a plan for each of us. Do not waste time looking at what others have; look at what the Lord is giving you.” Saint John Henry Newman, whose feast we recently celebrated, wrote, “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has not created me for nothing.”

Paul in chains and John in old age—both fulfilled their service. Paul did not envy John’s freedom; John did not envy Paul’s dramatic martyrdom. They followed the Lord who called them, each in his own way.

This Easter season, the Lord asks us to lay down the burden of comparison. Look at your own life. What are your “chains”? What are your limitations? Offer them to the Lord. He can proclaim His Kingdom from a rented house in Rome, and He can proclaim it from your kitchen, your office, your sickbed. And do not envy the path of another. Your path is your sanctity. Your cross is your glory. Follow Him. Do not look back. Do not look sideways. Look only at Jesus, and walk. Amen.

May God bless you all!