Give me neither a
poverty of destitution nor riches;
PROVIDE ME ONLY WITH
THE FOOD I NEED
poverty of destitution nor riches;
PROVIDE ME ONLY WITH
THE FOOD I NEED
God does want us to recognize that He is the source of every good gift.
When Jesus sent His
disciples on a missionary journey, He did not want them to take all kinds of
provisions with them. His intention was that they should learn complete
dependence on God.
Today's Gospel we
read that Jesus sent the twelve out and gave them power and authority to
overcome demons and to cure the sick. He sent them to proclaim the reign of God
and to heal. We might be tempted to think the chances that this uneducated,
band of disciples would have had success in the world was doubtful. How prepared
could they have been to leave the companionship of Jesus and venture forth
without even a walking stick or traveling bag and no bread or money? They must
have been scared to death.
For the most part,
we might judge those sent by Jesus as slow learners. However, recall the
miracles of healing and forgiveness they had witnessed, and most of all
consider their relationship to Jesus whose love they knew intimately. These
men, afraid and still weak in faith were sent, ready or not! As we reflect on scripture:
do we disciples of Jesus in this modern time share in the same mission today?
By our baptism and confirmation we too are sent by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel
of God's kingdom and to attend to those wounded both physically and
spiritually, and to love all.
Today we joined
with the psalmist in praising God, Bless the Lord, all you his chosen ones, and
may all of you praise his majesty. We are called to place ourselves, as Jesus,
"Not my will, but yours be done." We need to say this often!
God does not want
us to live in destitution so that we must literally wonder where our next meal
is coming from. That way of surviving is not His will. But He does want us to
recognize that He is the source of every good gift. He is happy to respond to
our sincere prayer, "Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches."