Deacon Tom Writes,
In
today’s gospel Jesus gives His disciples some instructions before sending them
out to the towns and villages He intended to visit. He tells them “Go on
your way; behold I am sending you like lambs among the wolves. Carry no money bags, no sack, no
sandals; and greet no one along the way…” It’s no wonder “the laborers are few!” And yet, surprisingly, 72 responded to
the call; 72 brave souls willing to venture out into the world, materially
unprepared in every way to confront the challenges they were sure to meet along the
way.
What
a test of faith. Imagine these disciples starting out on a journey with no
money, no carry-on, nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Sounds unrealistic, doesn’t it? But that’s the urgency that Jesus gave
to His ministry – announcing the Good News that the Kingdom of God was at
hand. People longed to hear this
message and Jesus was eager to spread the word that indeed Kingdom of God had
arrived. “Be as busy as a bee” seems
to have been Jesus’ mindset in spreading the Good News. Nothing was more
important, so no need to waste time with the things of this world…money,
baggage and extra clothes. God
will take care of everything. God
will provide; He always does.
We
all could take lessons from these first eager co-workers of Jesus by ourselves
trusting in God more and relying upon our possessions less; trusting in God’s
Divine Providence and care and knowing He is always by our side, especially
when things seem to not be going our way. What a wonderful world it would be if
we could dedicate our lives to promoting the kingdom Jesus proclaimed as we went
about our day-to-day activities; if we were His laborers tilling the fields. We
would truly have reason to rejoice as we too would drive out the demons in
Jesus’ name, the demons of poverty and ignorance, the spirits of want and
greed, the delusions of those seeking power and authority over others for their
own selfish gain. With the love of Jesus in our hearts we might overcome the
racial, political and economic issues that divide us. It really doesn’t take
much effort on our part to be a willing co-worker of Jesus, a simple “Yes,
Lord” will do, and then placing our trust in God’s Divine Providence. Oh, would
that not lead to “heaven on earth”. Yes, we would have reasons to rejoice and
be glad for all the good things we could do in Jesus’ name, if,
and it’s a big if, we choose to abandon all earthly vestiges of power and go
about our daily business with the only things we need, the Mind, the Heart and the Love of Jesus, our Lord.
Enjoy
the day!
Deacon
Tom
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