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Well, in my opinion and my own experience, the Lord doesn’t give us only one chance to accept his invitation but many. In my case, the Lord gave me quite a few chances, repeating his invitation.
It started when I was seventeen and had just returned from the war.
I said to the Lord, “You can’t really mean that. I can serve you in many other ways,” and I procrastinated.
Twice more the call came, but again I declined and procrastinated. And then the third call came. It was already late in my life, and I said to the Lord, “You know I do love you.” The answer came back: “Then do my will.”
Somehow I knew this was my last chance, and it pulled me out of my procrastination mode, and I started on the road to priesthood.
Only God knows why he wanted me to be his priest. I do not have great gifts. I am devoted to prayer and meditation. My prayers feed me, and I hope they are beneficial for others as I intercede for them.
So the Lord is patient with us. Sometimes he is very patient as he was with me. But he knows we are only vessels of clay, so he makes allowances for our nothingness and wants to fill it with his love and many graces.
So yes, the call is costly at times, but the rewards are great. When we set out to follow Jesus, we often do not know what we are getting ourselves into.
There are times when the only way to continue is to put our total trust in him. For he knows the way to lead us out when we are stuck in a labyrinth of problems.
Unconditional surrender then is the answer. Let us continue to walk on this road the Lord has pointed out for us to try to be faithful to him and walk in his footsteps, not counting the cost.
Excerpted from a homily on Luke 9:57-62, the gospel story about the excuses disciples called by Christ gave him.
