yes but

I had planned to share a reflection on yesterday’s Sunday gospel but the moment passed and I got caught up in other things.

Then today the same gospel pops up again. Must be the Holy Spirit giving me a second chance. It’s not very often the same gospel appears two days in a row.

Yesterday it was Matthew’s version and today it’s Luke’s telling. Yes I will follow you, but first let me bury my father, but first let me say goodbye to those who are at home.

When Jesus calls, our response is rarely a simple and clear “yes.” We are more likely to suggest that while we are prepared to turn in His direction, we prefer to hold back from the fulness of what He is offering us as we grasp at our little attachments of projects and fears.

We might even justify our resistance by suggesting that if we keep on with our current projects for a bit longer we will be able to give Him much more in the future.

And Jesus patiently waits.

But we sense that while our “yes” has placed us on the path to earthly and eternal abundance, our “but” is the extent to which we are placing an obstacle in the relationship that we most desperately desire…