Becoming Followers of Christ

by Deacon Lorna Goodison on October 14, 2021

In our world, persons of renown receive special privileges and services. Friends and followers of famous persons also receive special privileges.  Jesus contradicts worldly standards, and declares, “whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Loving service is what counts in God’s eyes.  

Early in His ministry, Jesus called James and John, who left the family’s fishing business and followed Jesus on a lifelong adventure of spiritual growth and formation. Jesus knew the innermost personality of James and John so well that He gave them the nickname, Boanerges, Sons of Thunder. In one incident they acted “thunderously” when a Samaritan village rejected Jesus. Impulsively and with thunderous passion for Jesus, they asked, “do you want us to call down fire to destroy them?” But Jesus constrained them.  In the same way, Jesus discerns our interior attitudes, yet loves us and declares us worthy to be His followers, just as we are.

 This Sunday’s gospel, (Mark 10:35-45), follows Jesus’ third and most explicit prediction of His betrayal, passion, death, and resurrection. James and John ask Jesus to be allotted places of privilege in His kingdom.  In response, Jesus directs them away from a mindset of worldly privilege towards the core of discipleship, which is serving others, rather than seeking authority over others.  For “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  

Our greatness is founded not upon worldly honor but upon the privilege and honor that God bestows on us by deeply loving us, by pouring His worthiness upon us, and by sending His Son, Jesus Christ in this world to restore us to His kingdom through a life of humble self-giving sacrificial service.

James and John were truly on a journey of spiritual recreation. They grew from blindly telling Jesus that they could drink the cup of suffering that He would drink to becoming disciples truly submitted to the lordship of Christ.  After Jesus’ death and resurrection, they willingly took up the cross of apostleship, totally committed to the gospel of Christ. James became the first martyr of the Church and John became known as the Apostle of Love, who left us the legacy of his deeply instructive and inspiring spiritual writings, although exiled to the Isle of Patmos. 

 Jesus asks us today to be true followers, offering ourselves to be spiritually recreated like James and John.  In Him, we find real love and our sense of worthiness as we journey towards heavenly glory.  Amen

Tags: love, prayer, hope, growth, follow, spiritual growth, worthy, worthiness

About the Author
Deacon Lorna Goodison

Reverend Lorna Goodison was ordained to the Diaconate on April 29, 2007. After discerning a call to ordained ministry, Deacon Lorna completed a process of spiritual discernment and pursued three years of study at the Diocesan School for Christian Studies. She also completed three units of hospice care training through Vitas and for a short while she was a volunteer Chaplain. Highlights of her continuing education activities include a guided visit to Israel and attending the Festival of Homiletics in Boulder, Colorado.

Soon after her ordination, Deacon Lorna was called to serve as Deacon at St. Mary Magdalene. She initiated an outreach ministry to the homeless at St. Laurence Chapel, obtaining the support and involvement of most members of the congregation. This ministry remained a vibrant outreach of the Church until the Chapel closed in 2019.  Other outreach ministries formed include an informal group of members who stay in touch with members who are ill and shut-in. Deacon Lorna remains committed to both the in-reach and outreach ministries of the Church. She has led quiet day reflections for groups within and outside of St. Mary Magdalene. She has often led Deacon’s Masses at small churches without a priest. Of all the ministries in which Deacon Lorna participates, she is most humbled and grateful to be involved in the ministry of praying with congregants facing life’s challenges.

Deacon Lorna serves the Diocese of Southeast Florida as a member of the Disciplinary Committee. She also serves on the Board of Deacons.   

Professionally, Deacon Lorna worked for some years in Human Resource Departments as a Training Manager, but most of her working years were spent in Social Work. She worked with at-risk teenagers counselling them and guiding them to resources to build a meaningful future. The last twenty years of her profession, were spent working with Seniors, guiding them to the resources needed to maintain their safety and independence. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a master’s degree in Adult Education. She is now retired, cherishes some alone time for prayer and reflection, but divides her time between the Church and her family which consists of two daughters, their husbands and three grandchildren.

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