Travel Advice from Jesus
Pastor’s Column
14th Sunday Ordinary Time
July 7, 2019
What with this being the travel season, many of us will be going places. Imagine for a moment your “trip of a lifetime” that you have been planning and longing for, and then arriving only to find that your luggage is not there! Jesus’ advice to the disciples this Sunday (Luke 10:1-20) to travel light as they go can have a spiritual meaning for us, in that no matter how hard we may prepare, we are called on to rely on divine providence in those events that we cannot foresee.
Just imagine if you were going on a pilgrimage and were given this advice:
Don’t bring any money
Forget about a suitcase; you won’t need that either
Don’t bring an extra pair of shoes
Don’t change your hotel room when you arrive (no matter how disagreeable)
How many takers would one get on a trip like this? Not many! Let’s update Jesus’ list for a modern traveler. We are all Jesus’ disciples, literally on the trip of a lifetime, our own lifetime. What then do these instructions mean for us?
Having a big sack of money is not the goal of my life or my reason for living. Our wealth is only a means to an end. How I make and use my money and what I give away to others and how we glorify God are always our best investments. Having money can buy the illusion of security when, in fact, it offers no such thing. In the end, security is an illusion; God holds our destiny.
Travel light. When we disembark from the boat of life, we will leave all of our luggage behind. We enter into eternity with only our soul, who we are and what we have become will be clear to everyone.
Learn to depend more on Divine Providence. We can’t possibly anticipate every need or take enough “shoes” to cover every situation. If we let him, God will provide.
The “Imitation of Christ says” a change of place has deceived many.” Perhaps, instead of always longing for a better ”hotel”, I might ask God to help me to grow in the very place where I’m planted right now.
