“Walking along the Sea of ​​Galilee, He saw two brothers: Simon, named Peter, and his brother Andrew, who cast nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. He said to them: - Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately left the nets and followed Him. A little further on, he saw two other brothers James, son of Zebedee and his brother John, who, with his father, Zebedee, were setting the nets inside the boat. He called them, and they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him”. (Matthew, 4: 18-22; Mark, 1: 16-20)

“He went out again to the seashore, and the whole crowd came to meet Him and He taught everyone. As He passed, He saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the charging station, and said to him, "Follow me". And getting up, he followed Him.” (Mark, 2: 13,14)

“They went to Capernaum. When the Sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach. And everyone was amazed at His doctrine, because he taught as one who has authority and not as the scribes did.” (Mark, 1: 21,22)

Come and follow me, said Jesus. And they followed Him. Simple words, simple gestures, simple calling. And they left everything behind, fascinated, to go to Him and help in His sublime mission of spreading the Good News, the Gospel, the Doctrine of Love and Simplicity.

Who was this Man, with a sweet and humble look, but imbued with the greatest grandeur, full of Love and Pity for human pains, which captivated everyone and who, with His deep and wise words, dragged the multitudes eager to drink from the teachings and balms that they produced in the most hidden of their souls?

Who was this Man, in poor clothes, humble gestures, who had nowhere to rest, accompanied by a team chosen from among the humblest in Galilee, who extended His hands to all in gestures of deep Love, and whom with only one look, an imposition of hands, or even a light touch on His clothes, healed and blessed, and consoled those who were afflicted and disowned in the world?

What man was this, who, on Earth, presented himself almost as a beggar, poor among the poorest, but who, visibly, had immense power, the intermediary of God Himself, whom he called Father?

Sent from on High, descended from the Moorland of Light, where He was, as He, himself, said, at the Father's right since before the formation of the Earth, he was the most sublime Spirit who ever stepped on Earth. Planetary Governor, as the Spirits collaborating with the Spiritist Doctrine, who co-created with God in the formation of the earthly world, and since then, according to the Creator's designs, are responsible for our destinies. He remained vigilant, with a watchful eye, throughout the planetary evolutions and revolutions and their inhabitants, which we have been, was after age, and which, after all, are His younger brothers, whom he never abandoned, despite the few merits that, sometimes, we have manifested.

Collaborating with the Father's will, He has been sending countless messengers through the ages, to alerting us and pointing out the path of Good, each in his own way, and according to our ability to understand and absorb Spiritual Truths. They were the prophets of the most diverse religions, appearing in all corners of the world and at all times.

Until, when the time came, God decided to send Him in person. That is how Master, Physician of Souls, Greater Prophet became, and descended, through the roads of light that connect Heaven and Earth, to this world of pain, suffering and ignorance, to safely lead us, making known the Laws of the Father, in an attempt to remove us from evil and, in this way, free us from pain. He abandoned His sublime tasks in the Greater World, where he prevailed among the Spirits of Light, and accepted, with all humility and great Love, the task of living among us, spreading light and teaching through words and, above all, the wonderful. examples that fill the gospels.

The disciples chosen by Him, certainly His collaborators from the World of Light from which He came, and previously sent to this loving end, were the most humble of men, in a humble country, enslaved under the Roman yoke, without citizenship rights, ignorant workers (before the human concept), but with an open heart, ready to follow Him and undertake the great and difficult mission of spreading His Gospel throughout the world, so that no one would be forgotten and everyone would have the same opportunity for redemption.

It was thus that, after His return to the World of Light from which He came, where He would certainly resume His tasks with the Father, and from where He would continue to work for our evolution, His disciples continued His Mission of Love on Earth. That is how, with hearts full of painful longing and immense love, they imparted such vivacity and vigor to what they told of the wonderful Master and the way they presented His Doctrine, which won thousands of hearts and made Christians people of all faiths, among Jews and Gentiles, helping Christianity to reach our days and to all continents.

And they did so with such certainty that they believed that their Faith did not hesitate to face sacrifices, bitterness, the scorn of society at the time, humiliation, martyrdom, death. They knew, because they believed in the Master, that death and the world's pains were nothing before the promises of happiness announced by Jesus. Above all, they knew that the Gospel could not be stopped because it came from God and was designed to change the world. And that, after martyrdom and death, they would meet before the Great Friend who was waiting to welcome them into His loving arms, because He Himself had guaranteed: "I will leave, but I will prepare a place for you with my Father".

Blessed are those who lived with such a Sublime Entity, Jesus, who were able to understand His teachings, humbly welcomed Him into their hearts and were able, with all their courage and selflessness, to give Him a testimony, between pains and martyrs, without giving up nor disown the Truth.

We have much to thank these selfless hearts. Without them, today we would not have the blessing of a sublime doctrine which is Christianity. Spiritism, a continuation of Christianity, Comforter Promised by Jesus, brought us, among its numerous subsidiary literature, charming novels, dictated by Emmanuel to the medium Chico Xavier, who tell us true scenes of these unforgettable times, making us relive sacrifices and hopes that attest well to the value of the early Christians. We can point out, as examples, some titles that are well worth knowing and whose reading we advise, both for the literary beauty impressed by the benefactor Emmanuel, and for the testimonies and teachings, which continue today as valid as then: Two Thousand Years Later, Fifty Years Later and Ave, Cristo.

And today? And what about us? What is asked of us? What testimony does Master Jesus, Sublime Friend, expect from us? Time passed and we, from reincarnation to reincarnation, have been passing through the various terrestrial centuries, over these more than two millennia, since Jesus remained among us. In each of these centuries, different testimonies were demanded of those who truly believed in the Doctrine of Jesus and became His Real Missionary. From the Roman arenas, to the fires of the Inquisition, to the crossed oceans and other dangers faced to bring Christianity to the peoples of Africa and the Americas, to the persecution of Spiritists in the dark times of dictatorships that prevented the spread of non-traditional creeds, many situations were lived that demanded from Christ's followers the greatest testimonies of Faith.

Where would we be at each of these times? What testimonies have we been able to give? How many times have we been called to work in the Lord's harvest? How many times have we faced the task of bearing witness to Him with Faith and Courage? And how many times have we stepped back, frightened or, even worse, accommodated to situations that required less virtue and value? By the grace of the Father, who in His Laws provides for everything, we are blessed by forgetfulness, when passing from one reincarnation to another. We say blessed because, only God knows how we would feel when we fully remember our own failures and how we could feel “stunted” ´, for the guilty and ashamed conscience, in the purpose of accepting new assignments. But God does not want us to live too attached and conditioned by a guilty past, nor does He want the lack of humility that still characterizes us to be an obstacle in remembering the victories achieved.

We have a sense of duty imprinted on our conscience and that is enough to point the way. We have the Doctrine of Jesus, and today the Spiritist Doctrine, which is nothing more than the reviving Christian Doctrine. That is enough for us. Let us return to the question: And today, what is expected of us? What kind of testimony do we have to give, as Christians and as Spiritists (one and the same, we repeat)? We live in a very different time, of course. Religious freedom, at least in Western countries, is a reality, more or less extended. We are no longer required to testify for physical sacrifices. However, we are not exempt from moral and spiritual sacrifices. A Christian / a Spiritist, first of all, without failing to respect the individual beliefs of his neighbor, and without holding on to the Truth (which would be a lack of humility and, therefore, a terrible testimony and great lack of love), he must be ready to witness His belief, without shame, without fear of discredit, with courage. And with knowledge. It was Kardec who advised: Spiritists love yourselves and instruct yourselves. Without doctrinal study there is no true knowledge, only pseudo-knowledge. That is why we lack valid arguments when, on certain occasions, we are confronted with detractors, or even just the curious, with whom we could testify to the Consoling Doctrine, and we fall short because we do not know how to explain what we say we believe. We fail to give testimony and, unfortunately, we sometimes even engage in sterile religious discussions that only induce disbelief. Let us study and be humble. How humble Jesus was.

But, the true and grandest testimony that we are called to give today, and for which we have no excuse if we continually fail, is that of good example, honesty, work in favor of our fellow man and society that welcomes us for current experiences and tests. It is the practice of material and / or spiritual charity, where our selfless voluntary action is necessary. It is the renunciation of faults, errors, defects, vices that still hold our souls in chains to the evil that we did not know how to purge from us. It is to gradually abandon excessive materiality, pride, vanity, selfishness, self-indulgence, personality exaltation, sensuality, backbiting, and so many other stains that hinder our spiritual vision and prevent us from seeking and building the Kingdom of God in us and in the world we inhabit. These are the sacrifices that God wants from us. These are witnessing actions. Spiritism teaches us that a good Spiritist, like a good Christian, who are one and the same, is known for the good that he practices and for the sacrifice of removing from himself everything that is still an obstacle to his spiritual evolution. May those who know us as Christians and / or as Spiritists identify in us, and through us, what it is, after all, to be a Christian and to be a Spiritist.

Said Jesus, in his time: "Come and follow me". He said it to the people who heard Him and left everything to follow Him. These were not words of the time. They were words forever and ever. They were meant for us, who heard Him at that time, and today we still need to hear them. Will we finally be prepared to follow Him, leaving “everything”, meaning “everything” who we are as inferior beings predisposed to walk towards higher spirituality? Jesus waits for us. “Come and follow me” continue to be His words.