When prioritizing means change

Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary TimeSeptember 30, 2009
Today's Saint: Jerome Pray for deeper understanding of scripture:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Jerome.htm
Today's Readings:Neh 2:1-8Ps 137:1-6Luke 9:57-62http://www.usccb.org/nab/093009.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_09_30.mp3
When prioritizing means change
We all have good reasons for not following Jesus all the way all the time. The man in today's Gospel reading, who wanted to first bury his dad, seems to have his priorities right. After all, he was obeying the commandment about honoring his parents. But we don't know if his father was even dead yet. Jesus knew that the man was just making excuses. He was procrastinating on his personal decision to change his life and become a follower of Christ.
The guy who wanted to go back home to say goodbye seems to be someone who had a strong sense of responsibility. He knew it was wrong to abandon his family. After all, he couldn't call them on the phone to let them know that he was safe and that he was not forgetting about their needs. But Jesus knew that this man felt torn between the life he had left behind and his life as a disciple; having a divided mind would make him an ineffective Christian.
The past can be a powerful master of the heart, but only God should be the master we serve.
All of our reasons for not fully committing to a direction or a service that Jesus is asking of us could be very good reasons. They can seem very logical and even holy. But if they are excuses and not vocations, we are choosing death over life. We are the dead burying the dead.
The people in this Gospel story had excellent rationale behind their buts. We can even say that until Jesus called them to follow him, they were doing exactly what God wanted them to do. Why would he change his almighty mind? Their buts seemed legitimate.
Following Christ is never a static position. It's an adventure that changes as soon as we settle down and get comfortable. God calls us away from doing one good thing to do a different good thing. The hard part is recognizing when it's time to let go of the old to start something new, especially when it makes perfect sense to keep on doing what we've been doing, and even more especially when no one else can do it quite as well as we can.
Should we answer the pastor's call for more liturgical readers, even though it means switching our schedule to a different Mass? Should we reach out to that person who could become a new friend, even though we'd have to sacrifice time that we'd normally spend with old friends? Should we turn our ministries over to someone else so that we can fill a need elsewhere?
We want to do what Jesus asks of us. If we truly trust him, we really do want to follow him wherever he leads. Choosing the right priorities is not our problem. Our struggle comes from first of all recognizing the surprise changes in God's plans.
After that, it's a matter of moving forward in the new direction. Instead of wishing that we could go back to the old, we focus on what Jesus wants us to do today, content with whatever we're doing – until God throws another curve in our path.
If you need help getting through this struggle to move in the right direction, read my e-book "Knowing God's Will and Doing It Well" (http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/GodsWill.htm).
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
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