24 September 2014

Jesus is forthright toward his disciples–not everyone is going to like them.  In handling people who do not “welcome” his followers, He promotes a simple, direct practice that is still quite useful.  Christ says, “When you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”  Whose dust do you still need to shake from your feet?

Let’s face it: some people probably have not treated us very well in the midst of our walk with the Lord.  Too often we exert ourselves trying to appease them, yet this can be a slippery slope.  As St. John Vianney so aptly warned, “Don’t try to please everybody.  Try to please God, the angels and the saints-they are your public.”  What a liberating yet challenging truth to live by!  Let us pray for a humble confidence to persevere even in the face of tension or opposition.  After all, as the Proverbs tell us, God “is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”