St. Peter loved our Lord so intensely that he gave up his career and his family and friends in order to follow Him from town to town until they came, one day, to the final town: Jerusalem. That was where Jesus would suffer and die. The night before His passion, He warned Peter: “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later” (John 13:36). Peter protested, exclaiming his intention to follow Jesus even unto to death, but Jesus insisted: “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times” (John 13:38). St. Peter could only follow Christ so far. He had to wait many years until he could follow Christ in death, and be reunited with his friend and his Lord.
St. Paul, too, had to wait. He longed to depart this life and be with Christ because, he said, “that is far better” (Phil 1:23), but it was not God’s will. God chose for St. Paul to continue his ministry on this Earth for some time, laboring fruitfully, spreading the Gospel and the joy that comes with it. Only later did a martyr’s death bring St. Paul home to glory.
Do you long to be with Christ in death? Do you long to be with him in life? Or are your longings scattered between various objects? Ask the Lord to focus them and purify them. Ask, today, for the grace to desire what is truly best: Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.