As I was reflecting on today's Gospel (Sept 23; Lk 9-1-6) the words "he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal" leapt out from the page. These words, and the reading as a whole, apply to the Jesuit Centre of Spirituality and its work in Atlantic Canada.
Our programmes, evening events aiming to explore faith and spirituality, as well as retreats, here in Halifax and elsewhere, attempt to fulfill this Gospel mandate. Using different approaches, we present the Word of God, with Jesus at its centre, and we want to allow that Word to do its work, which is to heal, to help people to realize that the Lord's yoke is easy and his burdens light, to liberate them from their disorders and their anxieties. Liberation indeed is at the heart of the Ignatian spirituality we practice.
There is another aspect highlighted by the reading. Jesus told his apostles to take nothing for their journey. They are to depend not on the plentiful resources they control but on the generosity of others. This is real poverty, it is scary, and it applies to us as well. We are obviously poor in human resources with only two Jesuits on staff, with a number of devoted volunteers, and we are poor financially and administratively. But in a mysterious way, our poverty can make us authentic and effective as ministers of the Gospel. That is the prayer this text inspires in me.
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