When I received my letter of acceptance to St. Joseph Seminary back in 1961, it came with a list of all the things that I needed to bring with me. It also came with a packet of laundry numbers that had to be sewn into each piece of clothing on the list.
In 1967, when I received my letter of acceptance to the novitiate of Sacred Heart Province, it came with another list of things that I could bring with me to the novitiate. It was a much sparser list. The one thing that I remember the most is that we were told that we could bring a straw hat with us. I suspect that the list was one that had been used for most of the history of Sacred Heart Province because I remember seeing pictures of the friars wearing straw hats. However, in 1967, no one was selling straw hats. So I didn’t bring one with me to the novitiate.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the apostles what they should NOT bring with them on their first missionary journey. “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick.” I daresay this is not something that we would even begin to consider today. If we were going on some sort of mission journey to Haiti or to orphanages in Mexico or even if we were embarking on a pilgrimage, we would all make sure that we had what we needed for such a journey. We might even make a list and check off things as we prepare our suitcases.
At the same time, I must admit that what I find even more remarkable in this Gospel passage is the fact that Jesus tells them exactly what they are going to be doing. “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.” If we think back to the previous two chapters, we will realize that this is exactly what Jesus has been doing. This is his mission. Remarkably, he is entrusting that mission to the Twelve, a group of followers who have simply been watching as Jesus has been working.
Jesus is demonstrating a tremendous amount of trust in entrusting the mission to these men. At the same time he asking them to trust him by striking out without any provisions. Both facts teach us a basic truth of which we need to remind ourselves every day. It is all in God’s hands. Our lives as disciples are not about us. It is all God’s doing.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator