13th Sunday Ordinary Time

13 ^th Sunday of Ordinary Time
 
Let me tell you now, if Jesus calls you to follow Him, you are finished. He will not wait for you. He will not accept any excuses from you. He will expect you to drop what you are doing and move. That is how it looks from outside. To the one who is searching, to the one who is trying to discover the will of God, this is wonderful when the Lord calls us to follow Him. It is no burden to us to just drop what we are doing and go and follow the Lord. For those who pretend to be deaf, Jesus is dead serious when He calls you. There is no time for excuses. We don’t get to postpone for another day. As soon as the net enfolds around us we are caught. I think that which stops me from following the Lord wholeheartedly is the fact that I have many attachments. I attach myself to clothes, shoes, ornaments, cars, houses, ear rings. You name it. I remember when my Work Visa was about to run out. I was waiting for my Immigration card to be sorted. I was assured that because I was within the system I was alright. I remember sitting on the chair the night before my Visa ran out, terrified. I expected the FBI to come any minute and take me to the airport. During those few hours I found myself packing my whole like into a suitcase. I was amazed at how easy it was to let everything go. I was able to reduce my whole life into one suitcase. We have persuaded ourselves that we need all our stuff. We shy away from Jesus in case He might ask something from us. The great quest of the one who wishes to follow Jesus is to find the courage to surrender. That is the key. Am I willing or able to surrender to the Lord. The idea of surrender is that I give up my will. I stop resisting. I put myself into someone else’s hands. We do it all the time but we are not aware of it. I can’t be in control of everything so why start now. The Lord calls us all to follow Him. He invites each one of us to make ourselves available to go into the Vineyard and help to bring in the sheaves. I think we over indulge with our stuff as a way of avoidance. Look at the people fussing with their cell phones. They are only  doing it so they don’t have to talk to us. My life is a way of avoidance.  I know what it is the Lord is asking of me. Don’t want to do it. Don’t want to make an effort. Let someone else do it. We are drowning in stuff deliberately. Our houses are hiding palaces. What’s with that? Can’t give it up. Won’t give it up. Can’t follow Jesus. My excuse: who will take care of my stuff.  What am I avoiding? I suggest I am scared to death that Jesus might have a plan for me so I hide behind my stuff and nonsense.
With love, Fr. Pat