I am sure that the account we hear in the Gospel today is very familiar to us. At the same time, I wonder whether we have really thought it through.
Consider for a moment that you are preparing for a journey. You don’t know how long it will last, whom you will meet, or where you will stay. All you know is what you are supposed to do when you get to your destination.
Now compare that scenario to what really goes on when we are getting ready for a road trip. We all do it. We pack. We make arrangements for someplace to stay. We take a snack or two along in case we should get hungry. How different our preparation for a journey! Whereas Jesus tells his disciples to take nothing for their journey and to stay wherever they are welcomed, we leave nothing to chance.
Could we have responded to Jesus’ instructions? I know I would have some difficulty doing so. Even if I were younger and less limited than I am now, I don’t know that I have ever gone somewhere without preparing for the trip.
I am not advocating that we take this passage from the Gospel literally. However, it would be good for us to examine the faith and the trust that the apostles must have had in order to fulfill Jesus’ instructions. That faith and that trust is something we all need simply to make our way through this world, even here in the comfort of St. Francis Woods Convent. These two virtues are absolutely necessary for anyone who would be a follower of Jesus.
Faith and trust are virtues that need constant tending and nurturing. The Eucharist supplies that care and nurture. When we receive the Lord in this sacrament, our faith is nourished and our trust strengthened.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator