Memorial of Saint Jerome
September 30, 2020
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Luke 9:57-62
Luke describes several men who must have been taken with Jesus’ words and wonderful healings. Each protests that he wants to follow Jesus and they seem to put no conditions on their words. But when the time comes for a real decision, they all make excuses. One said he needed to bury his father first. Actually his father was not even dead yet, so that would delay his joining Jesus. Another said he needed time to say farewell to his family.
Each man had to do something before he could come to follow Jesus. By the time they did what they needed, Jesus would have left the region to continue preaching and healing elsewhere. They would have missed him. It is strange that often when an opportunity to do something very good does comes up, but is at the same time a little inopportune, we back off. The theory is good–practice is another matter.
There are those times in our lives when an opportunity arises which can make a difference in our lives and we have the choice of using it or putting it aside because of some inconvenience. Those are the moments of grace that come to us unexpectedly. It is good if we are able to say “yes” to those moments from time to time.
