Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:35-36
“While we are living out our mortal life we will need material means to sustain our family and set about the apostolic tasks that the Lord wants us to promote. Economic means are just that – goods – that become an impediment when we seek after them in such a way that we are not able properly to appreciate the supernatural means…
Jesus Himself teaches the disciples the importance of using the human means. Before their first apostolic mission He expressly tells them: Do not take a bag or purse. He leaves them without any material support at all, so that they clearly see that it is He Himself who grants efficacy to their efforts.
They fully comprehend that the cures, conversions, and other miracles they are instrumental in carrying out are not due to their human qualities but to the power of God. Nevertheless, when on a later occasion they are about to set out, He adds to this first indication: But now, let Him who has a purse take it, and likewise a wallet.
Although the supernatural means come first in all our apostolate, the Lord wants us to use the human and financial means within our reach as if the supernatural means did not exist. To fulfill His divine mission, Jesus Himself wanted to depend on human means – a few loaves of bread and fish, a little mud, or the modest support of those pious women who accompanied the Lord on His apostolic journeys.”
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 7 (London: Scepter, 1993) 319-320.
Thanks for your prayers for our team. As the new header photo illustrates, we are safely in Guyana. I am writing to challenge all readers today to put to work the resources in your stewardship as an instrument because holding on to them can be an impediment to your service.
This may sound harsh but there’s no middle ground with Jesus. He sends us out with nothing to teach us to depend on Him. Then as our stewardship causes resources to come to us, He wants us to put them to work on mission.
Thanks for your prayers for our GTP team in Guyana and for your financial support (click here to give monthly). Your partnership with us through giving is instrumental in multiplying stewards in the hardest and most remote places.