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Isaiah 66:10-14
Psalm 66
Galatians 6:14-18
Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20
We can practically hear Jesus crying out to us to not only stay focused on the goal, but also to be alert during the journey. Who knows how Jesus will call us to live our Baptismal Vocation? Perhaps, though, we find that sometimes we get so set in our ways of thinking and doing things that we begin to daydream. Our lives become state and the direction that we should go, the way we thought things should be, suddenly are not. The horn is blown and we are called to go forth. What we may have hoped was our distination, turns out to actually be a stop along the way.
And what happens when we don't respond to the call to go forward - when we ignore the horn? We are cursed, we become a hazard to others, and we cease to move toward our destination (along with delaying everyone else), ultimately, Jesus Christ. But Jesus is not only the destination. Jesus is our journey and as we go forth in our lives trying to discover the will of God, we have to be attentive to both the destination and the journey. We must boast only of Jesus Christ, that is, all that we say and do and accomplish must be in Jesus. We cannot become distracted by detours and construction, but we can't ignore it either. If we ignored the detours that are keeping us off of northbound Southfield Freeway, we'd end up in a ditch. If we ignore the invitations that God extends to us - the rest stops along the way - we'll end up no further than when we started.
Let us each continue on our journey as we leave the table of Word and Sacrament, refueled and rejuvenated by one another through the Holy Spirit. Let us pray for vocations not by praying solely for more priests and religious, but for all ways of living the Christian life. Let us pray that everyone, including ourselves, may know God's will: both the destination God has in store for us, and the journey that will take us there.
Peace,
Shaun Lowery
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