September 2025
‘Take nothing for the journey’
Luke 9:3 (NIV)
Having just retired and moved into a much smaller home, I am aware of just how
much ‘stuff’ I’ve accumulated over a lifetime. The desire to live simply was never
so strong as when we were determined not to ‘fill’ our new home. Jesus’ words
to his disciples as he sends them out in pairs to do the work of the Kingdom of
God therefore sound very attractive: ‘Take nothing for the journey’.
I wonder how his disciples felt as they heard these words? Nervous? Excited?
Apprehensive? Dismayed? Living by faith, as this way of living by the generosity
of others along the way is called, does take a lot of trust in the God who provides.
Yet just before Jesus sends them out, he has stilled the storm on the sea, cast out
demons, healed a woman of chronic disease and raised a young girl from the
dead. After seeing and experiencing all this, it is not difficult to see that Jesus’
closest followers would put their faith in him.
When we feel called to go beyond our comfort zone to share the love of God
with people in word and deed, it is good to be able to draw on our experience of
God at work in our lives or the lives of others around us. Our experiences of God
through contemplative prayer can give us courage at such times.
The Saying for September calls us to travel lightly and go gently on our journey of life. We are
often reminded at funerals: ‘We bring nothing into the world and we take
nothing out’. As I write this Pope Francis is gravely ill, preparing for that final journey. I call to mind his namesake, St. Francis. He famously divested
himself of even his clothes as a public rejection of his old life of materialistic
wealth. Instead he embraced material poverty and the full and spiritually rich
life of serving others and building the Kingdom of God.
We are called to hold lightly the ‘stuff’ we have, to use it well as good stewards,
and to look to our Master to lead us and guide us. May God give us grace to be
both thankful and generous on our journey.