Relationship and mission

The Gospel from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today tells of Jesus sending the Twelve out to do the work He has been doing in His Galilean ministry. Friar Jude Winkler notes that the Gospel and the text today from Proverbs focus on Providence which provides just what we need to accomplish our mission. Joan Blandin Howard comments on the counter cultural nature of our mission. Unlike temporal missions, it is not measured by success in achieving goals. She notes the emphasis on continuing to act in intimate relationship with Jesus who is our access to Love of the Father. Like Job, who is cited by Friar Jude, we trust God and understand that we don’t understand. Don Schwager identifies “poverty of spirit” as the attitude which frees us from preoccupation with our needs and agenda. The prayer from the author of Proverbs that he avoid neither riches nor poverty is an expression of a desire that the conditions of the world not be cause for a rupture in our relationship with the Divine.