Dependency
Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
My dear encountered couples:
Jesus tries to instill courage and confidence in his Twelve Apostles. He gave them power and authority and sent them off to proclaim the reign of God. He told them not to worry about taking a lot of baggage along with them. They were to learn to trust in God by not having much of anything else to rely upon.
Sometimes we might find ourselves needing too many things around us in order to survive. What would we do without our wash machines, vacuum cleaners, microwaves, telephones, TV’s, all our electrical appliances? Then there’s our automobiles, subways, and airplanes. And how could the world ever get by without computers?
Leaves us wondering how people survived for all those thousands of years. But they did, didn’t they?
What is important is that people gratefully and humbly approach whatever God makes available to them in their lifetime, and use them to grow in good, internal quality - to become better people.
There’s always the danger of making gods out of inventions. We can become much too reliant on them and treat them like the most important things in our lives. Like the student who can’t multiply and divide when the batteries go dead in his hand-held calculator, we can become so dependent on the latest inventions that without them we’d feel terrified.
What would we do if electricity were shut off forever? Like the Apostles we need more trust and faith in God - and in the ability he has given us. With God, we have the means within us to do whatever needs to be done, with or without electricity. Be dependent, yes, but not on things, only upon God.
