TOGETHER IN CHRIST COLLABORATIVE
Church of Saint Ann
West Bridgewater MA
Website: stannswb.com
St. John The Evangelist
East Bridgewater MA
Website: stjohneb.org
July 14, 2024
When I was younger, I used to go to weeklong camp during the summer. It was your traditional camp experience, with swimming and boating, arts and crafts, campfires, and the like. One of the more unusual activities in which we were engaged was a “trust walk”, when we would be blindfolded and led on a path by a guide (who was NOT blindfolded (can’t have the “blind leading the blind”!) who you trusted would bring you safely through the experience.
Trust is a key element of faith, something which Jesus exhibits in our gospel reading. As He sends the disciples forth into the world of ministry, Jesus calls them to trust that God would provide for all their needs. They are to bring nothing “extra”, “nothing for the journey but a walking stick— no food, no sack, no money in their belts” (Mark 6:8); they are to trust in the goodness of people along the way. This is a great act of faith – faith in the goodness of people, faith in the goodness of God. Our first reading also features the gift of faith in the person of Amos, the prophet. By his accounting, he is no prophet; he is a shepherd and a horticulturist (a dresser of sycamores). By being asked to take on a prophetic role in God’s plan, Amos is asked to trust God in the plan He has for Amos and the people.
We are called on this day to ask ourselves if we are like the disciples of Jesus, who trust in God’s plan and His ability to care for them “on the road”, or like Amos, who (as a dresser of sycamores) wonders what God might be thinking in calling him to this prophetic role. We come to see that it is perfectly acceptable to have questions about God’s plan for us and to wonder where we are being led. Ultimately, however, we are called to trust that God has our back, our best interest at heart. May we come to believe that God will not let us stumble, not let us fall, and that when we do (by virtue of our distrust) He will pick us up, dust us off, and redirect us on the right path, the path that leads to salvation and eternal life.
Peace and All Good,
Fr. Paul