Friday, July 13, 2012

God is Enough




In this Sunday’s Gospel from Mark (6:7-13) Jesus sends the Apostles out two by two to go and bring the Good News to whomever the Spirit leads them to.  Jesus asks the Apostles to rely on God completely, “take no food, sack, or money with you” just enough to be presentable, a second tunic, sandals, and a walking stick.  Talk about total reliance on God!  Their main message was one of repentance, so this meant they had to talk about sin and how turn back towards God, again not an easy thing to do, and yet God demands the most and the best from us.

A reflection for us can be, have I trusted God enough that I am willing to take nothing with me except the bare essentials?  Granted not all of us or even a few of us can be Franciscans who follow St. Francis’ rule literally, nevertheless we can follow this Gospel rule in many other ways.

1)    When it comes to trusting God do I really leave everything in His hands or do I try and control every angle?
2)    Have I put God first, or have I queued him to the number 3, 4, or 5 spot in my order of importance?
3)    Do I preach repentance, first to myself and then to others?

Often times in our lives we feel that we must take control of a situation or situations.  I may be going on an interview and I prepare myself above and beyond the normal preparation.  Which is actually a smart thing to do, but do I keep God in mind as the One who is both helping me and preparing me for that interview?  What about starting a new family, getting married, or finding my vocation – does God take center stage?  Often times when people plan to get married they do not make the Church their first priority, rather the engagement ring takes the number one spot, then after the proposal family is notified or already know, then they plan for the place of reception –where they will have their dinner and celebration, and then fourth if He is lucky comes God, “oh lets go see the priest to reserve the Church.”

Granted much is going on in terms of excitement, so one can lose focus, also some couples do keep God first.  You see how easy it is to be worried about the things of the world, i.e. my money (to pay for the reception), my food (to give to those who come to my reception), and the sack (all my material things, especially the engagement ring, the dresses, the tuxedos, the limos, the camera and video, etc.)  I don’t mean to be a spoiler, all of those things are good and even fun, but were they decided with God in mind.  Does God want me to wear a $5,000 dress, pay for $150.00 plates per person, to buy rings that cost thousands of dollars?  If we are honest with ourselves, what would God say?

The same applies to me, do I need 100.00 slacks, 150.00 shoes, a brand new car which I must have because I deserve it, because I work so hard!  Actually I did buy a new car on May 1st, but I planned for it for two years in terms of saving, researching and test driving different vehicles, and as much as possible allowing God to lead me to something that was acceptable for a person in my state of life but that would also last and be durable.  The same should apply for everything we decide and not just the big purchases. 

Again, not everyone is called to be another St. Francis in the literal sense, though all of us are called to live that spirit of poverty, we do it in order to obtain freedom.  Things weigh us down; they preoccupy us and influence us to desire more.  A famous lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands” says, “Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be king, and the king is not satisfied until he loses everything.”

We need to pray for ourselves and each other in order that whenever we make decisions that like the Apostles who went two by two, or saints have been called by God down through centuries (like St. Francis) that we will trust that God is enough and that He will provide for everything we need.  

Fr. John

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