People struggle with the idea of believing in Jesus but also having to “obey” him. They feel this infringes on their freedom. So, what exactly does it mean to obey Christ? Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that the main thrust of this verse is woven in the two commandments Jesus spoke: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Obedience to Christ is simply making an effort to submit one’s ego (with all its wounds, desires, lusts, private ambitions, and envies) to these commandments of love. It means putting Jesus and how he asked us to live our life higher than ourselves. It requires living what we believe. It’s not easy, but we have other examples of a life lived within this objective to encourage us: Teilhard de Chardin, Simone Weil, Mother Teresa, Daniel Berrigan…the list could go on. In each person mentioned above, we see a life predicated on a genuflecting of their will to something higher than themselves. By their own admission, they were not perfect, but they did consistently make an effort, with the grace of God, to live in obedience to Christ. That is all He asks of each of us, to be His light and love to the world.