Commentary on the Gospel of October 1, 2025

“I’ll procrastinate tomorrow…”

There are Spanish sayings that warn us against procrastination: “Don’t put off until tomorrow…” or “What you must do, do it quickly…”

Jesus also insists on this today, but not so much against the kind of procrastination that may sometimes be harmless. Instead, He warns us against the excuses we give for not following Him promptly and radically. Or against the conditions we sometimes place: “Lord, if you give me this, then I will…”

He also warns us about looking back after having begun the journey. About quietly telling ourselves: “If I hadn’t committed, I could now do something easier, more profitable, more selfish maybe.” Looking back and longing for what was left behind (like the onions of Egypt), for the goods and comforts we had to renounce in order to follow Christ. Promising to do something good—an act of charity, justice, sacrifice for others, prayer—and then not keeping that promise because it feels uncomfortable or because “I don’t have time right now.”

Jesus says that once you put your hand to the plow—in other words, once you have decided to do good in His name—you must plow. That is, you must do it, no matter how hard or complicated it seems.

Today we celebrate the holiness of a young woman who was in a hurry to give herself to Christ. So much so that she had to ask the Vatican for special permission to enter Carmel before the usual age. Later, we don’t know of any “heroic acts” she did before dying in her early twenties. And yet, she is the patron saint of the missions. Her “little way” was a path of determination, always moving forward.

And who are those “dead” we need to leave behind to follow Christ? Probably not people—surely Jesus does not mean that anyone should neglect burying their father. What He does ask is to leave behind other “dead things”: comfort, selfishness, too many occupations that keep us from prayer or from serving others, money, prestige… all these are dead. Let the dead bury their dead.