When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore. A scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Augustine is one of the most important theologians the Church has ever known. Once he converted to Catholicism, he proclaimed the Gospel with exceptional clarity and depth.
But prior to his conversion, he lived a storied life. Augustine was known for having many guilty pleasures, one being his love for women.
Around the time of his conversion, he’s famously quoted for saying, “Lord, make me celibate… Just not yet.”
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Augustine knew what was right; he wanted to do the Lord’s will…
… Just not yet.
The same is true for one of the figures in today’s Gospel. “Lord,” this person says, “I will follow you wherever you go…But let me first go and bury my father.”
“Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead,” Jesus says.
Meaning, stop making excuses. You know what is right. Follow me…now.
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In what ways do I make excuses to avoid doing the Lord’s will?
Maybe I’ve put off forgiving someone. I’ve clung to a habit a day too long. I’ve neglected to be charitable, honest, or prayerful.
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“Follow me,” the Lord says.
Not tomorrow.
Today.
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Image credits: (1) Pinterest (2) The Church on the Way, WordPress (3) Inspirations from the Funny Farm
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Last week, I was in Italy, in a small town in the Veneto called, Asolo. The town is perched on a hill at the base of the Italian Alps. From my hotel room, I could see endless fields of green carefully tended by farmers.
That scene reminded me of today’s Gospel. Jesus had a knack for using ordinary things to teach us about the kingdom of God – a mustard seed, a lost sheep, an open gate.
Today he uses the image of a farmer plowing his fields, much like those who work the fields of Asolo. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God,” he says.
What does a farmer have to do with being “fit” for the kingdom of God?
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While plowing his fields, a farmer has to remain focused on the path ahead. If he looks back, then he’ll ending up with awkward or zig-zag lines, effectively ruining his fields, making them difficult to tend.
The same idea applies to discipleship. When we follow the Lord, we should not look back or dwell on the past; our focus is always the future.
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Consider the people who want to follow Jesus in today’s Gospel, but have other responsibilities to attend to first.
“I will follow you, Lord,” they say. “But first let me go and bury my father,” one says. “Let me say farewell to my family at home,” says another.
Burying your father… saying farewell to your family. In both cases, these individuals are like farmers turning backward; they’re looking to the past, to what has been, instead of to what will be.
It seems harsh for the Lord to deny someone the opportunity to say their “goodbyes,” but they cannot wait; when Jesus calls, they must go. The plow is moving forward.
Think of the moment when Jesus called his disciples. Peter and Andrew were mending their nets along the shores of Galilee. James and John were with their father Zebedee. Matthew was standing at the customs post.
When the Lord came, they dropped their nets… they left their father… they quit their jobs and followed him.
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So, what might this mean in our own lives?
Perhaps we wonder if we should’ve done things differently in life:
What if we had raised our children differently; if we had taken another career path; if we had worked harder to save a relationship; if we had taken the road less traveled?
What if? What if? What if?
God is not in that world of “what ifs.”
God is in the world of “what is.” … and “what will be.”
Like a farmer tending his fields, God is looking ahead. The future is vast; the fields are wide; the plow is moving forward.
“No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
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Like those who want to follow Jesus in today’s Gospel but remain hesitant, is there a part of me that still resists moving forward? Am I clinging to part of my past that isn’t part of my future?
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Instead of dwelling on mistakes or missteps, the Lord invites us to learn from them, facing the future with hope.
Perhaps your road ahead involves teaching your grandchildren what you learned from being a parent. Or mentoring young people – opening a door for them, imparting a skill – offering things you might’ve wanted at their age, but may not have had.
This is a fundamental lesson in the spiritual life: regardless of what lines we’ve drawn in our past – successful or not… the plough keeps moving forward.
Jesus is moving forward.
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“No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Only those who keep moving forward, facing the open fields with Christ.
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Image credits: (1) The Kingdom @ Glandore-Underdale, WordPress (2) Becoming Christians (3) Luke 9: 51-62, Pinterest
In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God, according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. John will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn their hearts toward their children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Nearly every birth in the Bible is about the reaction of the parents as much as it is the destiny of the child.
Consider the difference between Mary’s reaction to the angel Gabriel versus Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, whose feast day we celebrate today.
Both births are foretold by the Angel Gabriel and both seemed highly unlikely: Mary, a virgin, and Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was elderly and barren.
While Mary believed what Gabriel told her, Zechariah’s heart was clouded by doubt. “How can this be?” he says. “For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years!”
Zechariah didn’t believe in the impossible. So, the angel strikes him mute, preventing him from saying another word until he holds his child, John, in his arms.
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This is a lesson learned throughout scripture: God can do extraordinary things. Yet how often do we question the Lord like Zechariah did, favoring human logic over the power of the divine?
“Lord, time is running out. Will you answer me?”
“How can I carry this cross? My health is declining.”
“How can I climb this mountain before me? It looks daunting.”
I asked a similar question upon arriving here at St. Pius X. “Lord, how can I renew this parish? We’re small in number … and we’re in the middle of a pandemic!”
Yet look at what the Lord has done – and continues doing today. Our ministries are expanding; Mass attendance is growing; faith and excitement are oozing out of many.
Like Zechariah, we’re being invited to trust that God can do the impossible… through us and for us, too.
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What seems impossible in my own life? Where have I doubted God’s power to do something new?
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With God, all things are possible… but everything is made easier by belief. As the Psalmist reminds us, “Trust in the Lord and he will act…because they trust in him” (Psalm 37:5, 40).
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Image credits: (1) Woman’s Day, WordPress (2) Andrey Shishkin, Simeon (3) God With Us, Pinterest
