Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the church
[Nehemiah 2:1-8 and Luke 9:57-62]I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."
At first glance, the excuses given in this passage seem reasonable. Perhaps they seem reasonable because they might be the ones we might offer if Jesus were to suddenly say to us in person, "Follow me!" The first assumed that all accommodations have been taken care of somewhere. Jesus says that he doesn't know where he'll be sleeping from one night to the next! The second concerns a very sacred obligation and doesn't necessarily mean the father has actually died but that the son wants to stay put until he can take care of this obligation. Jesus puts the kingdom ahead of this obligation, pointing out that the person who refuses to follow is choosing death and will be literally "the dead burying the dead." The last excuse is the appeal to all those whom we love well, but once again Jesus points the way forward and not back. His image of the plow would certainly be familiar to Palestinian peasants. But if we think about it, we realize that plowing new ground in a straight furrow requires that we look forward and not back at what we have left behind. In short, we are inclined to "negotiate" our faith-response to Jesus' call. We take out our calendars and try to "pencil" him in! His response is to tell us to get rid of the calendar when it comes to following him. There is only one time-line and it is his. Elsewhere in the gospel he promises that we will have everything we need in terms of family and necessities if we put the kingdom of God first. Is our response a "Yes!" or is it a "Yes, but.....?" AMEN
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