There is a little joke about five birds sitting on a telephone wire. Three decide to leave. How many are left? Five, because they are Catholic birds and only decide to leave but never act on it. Too often that is the case for us. We think, we pray, we discern but then do nothing. I know this has often been true for me.
In recent months I have been deeply disappointed by not being able to visit our senior friars because of the Corona Virus and often I remind myself to give one or two of them a call, just to say hello. But then, as often as not, the day gets away from me and my intention remains just that, a promise without fulfillment.
Matthew's Gospel reminds Jesus' disciples they ought not be like the Pharisees and other leaders who speak about what they would have done had they been alive during the time of the Prophets, but when an opportunity comes to be prophets in their own time, like the birds on the phone wire, they just sit there and do nothing.
Today, think about someone who you have been intending to call just to say hello and do it.
What excuses do you use not to act on the Gospel that reminds us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked?
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