I will Follow You Wherever You Go

Gospel Reflection for October 1, 2025

The Gospel for today gives us a beautiful affirmation. An unnamed disciple says to the Lord:

“I will follow you wherever you go.” Luke 9:57.

Now, the context of this verse, if we read on, is that Our Lord reminds this disciple that He has no home to call His own and no place to “rest His head.” While this is certainly the case for Christ, who came to His own and His own knew Him not,¹ it is also a reminder that if we follow Christ, then our place is not in this world either. While we are meant to be in the world, we are not to be of the world.

Today begins the month of October, and this month is dedicated to the Blessed Mother, specifically, through the devotion of the Rosary. This quote from the Gospel applies especially to her. In the most perfect way, Our Lady said to her Son, “I will follow you wherever you go.” From the moment of the Annunciation, through His ministry, and up to the foot of the cross, Our Lady followed her beloved wherever He went.

This discipleship is at the heart of Marian devotion and at the heart of the Holy Rosary. We meditate on the life of Mary in connection to her Son so as to imitate her abandonment to Her Son. No other disciple was as faithful as Mary. From the first moment that the Angel’s greeting reached her ears, her faith in the Incarnate Son was unsurpassed by any earthly creature.

This is why we imitate Mary. This is why we keep the mysteries of her life ever before our hearts through the recitation of the Holy Rosary. It is only in imitation of the Immaculata that we can truly come to know what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

We do not know who the disciple was who said this line in the Gospel of Luke. We do not know if they truly did follow Our Lord wherever He went. We can only hope that they did. What we do know, however, is that the Blessed Mother is the one disciple who can truly embody this phrase as she is the only one who never left His side, and it is in imitation of her that we can truly say this phrase as well. For proof of this, look no further than the Apostle John. Of all of the Apostles, he is the only one who remained with Our Lord to the cross. What is the connection? He was with Our Lady and derived his strength from her. He imitated the Mother so as to stay close to the Son.

In this month of October, let us be like St. John and stay close to the Virgin. Rest in her Immaculate Heart so that we, too, can say to Our Lord:

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

For more from Dr. McGovern, visit his Substack at A Thomist, Dedicated to the Theological tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Exploring Thomas’ Spiritual Theology and topics in Christology and Mariology.

1. Cf. John 1:11.