This directive from Jesus in this gospel used to mess me up as a kid. I’d scratch my head wondering what was all this talk about loving your neighbor? I’m still scratching it…why does Jesus use this language?! And for the very reason that it catches my attention, it makes us do a double take. How much is required of us to follow Jesus? It is an understatement to say that it was a huge sacrifice for the disciples to leave everything behind to start a new profession. What a strange job application it must have seemed to their families. Such a deep cost for so little return, not even a retirement plan! When I was a teenager, I was enamored with an aunt who went to South America as a Franciscan to run a school for girls, meaning to integrate the poor with the wealthy. Inspired by her, I’d always had a desire to become a missionary. Life’s path diverts us from these dreams, and they no longer seem applicable. Unless of course, doors start opening and you get an invitation out of nowhere. Do you remember a time when you had an opportunity to do something outside your box? And did you think that maybe you didn’t have what it took to say yes? Or perhaps you said yes to small things at first and watched it balloon into an animal out of control, a full-fledged raging opportunity that wouldn’t leave you alone… I don’t think God’s invitations are as clear-cut as we’d like to imagine. If you have a longing to become a disciple, it doesn’t have to take the form of selling your house to move to Africa. It can take the shape of a few hours a week getting to know local refugees. It can be an invitation to take to dinner, the brother-in-law you can’t stand, although you’d rather move to Africa….On the other hand, there are some things we are not called to. If I dream of moving to Africa, and I’m unsure of my commitment once I am there, how am I getting myself in trouble? Am I missing the invitation to do more here in my own backyard? I am going to Congo in the near future for two weeks to take a look at an invitation that began forty-four years ago. God’s commitment to us doesn’t require any of us to take up a cross, but to make our plans wisely, not on the spur of the moment. Still, like things past their shelf life, we don’t want to end up at the bottom of the refrigerator, like rancid milk and slimy unrecognizable vegetables. They’ll never be edible again. Discern broadly. Act on your plans. Jesus coming to life, now THAT will see me through every obstacle. Even dinner with my brother-in-law.
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