Wednesday – St. Wenceslaus

Gospel – Luke 9:57-62

Looking Back, Moving Forward

Christmas in Bethlehem

Given all the streaming services available these days – Prime, Peacock, Netflix, Tubi, you name it – it boggles the mind all the shows available to watch (and binge)  So many options, so little time!  Sometimes it makes me long for the good old days of just 3-5 channels and no option other than watch it live.  It reminds me too of some of my favorite shows from my childhood – all the westerns and classic comedies and all the non-stop cartoons on Saturday morning.  Waxing a bit nostalgic!!!!

Jesus almost seems nostalgic in today’s Gospel.  Everyone else has a home, a place to lay their head and He does not.  It’s as if He is looking back, as we are, to those days when life was normal, simpler, calmer.  A life in Nazareth with His parents, a home, family time!

But life has changed!  Priorities have changed!  And His mission moves forward.  It may sound insensitive for Him to remark that the dead should bury the dead.  But He is making a point – don’t dwell in the past; don’t live in the past.  The Mission continues and we must move forward!  We are all tasked with this Mission to spread the Word.  It doesn’t mean we abandon our past or our roots but we are called to set priorities, to focus on being disciples!

We celebrate today St. Wenceslaus, yes the “good King Wenceslaus” of Christmas carol fame.  He was the king of Bohemia who stood for Christian values at a time when politics and power were the values of the world.  One biographer states “rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.”

As in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls all of us to follow Him, to change our life and our priorities, to live a Christian life of love and service!  How do we answer?  Do we stubbornly hang on to the past or do we move forward to the Kingdom?

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