13 January 2021
Wednesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
There was a candidate to the Society that I once heard about who was struggling with the frequent moves Jesuit life involves. Jesuits joke at times that we take a vow of instability for being available to go wherever our superiors have decided to send us on mission (this instability is opposed to the vow of stability a member of a monastic order would take). Any Jesuit has to be ready at one point or another to leave a place he has come to call home for another location. While Jesuit life is full of departures, modern life involves many moves normally too. It might be one company to another, or a new position. It may be a new home, or a move to a new city.
We have more shared experience with Jesus in the way in which his ministry was itinerant. He comes to the shared house of Peter and Andrew, and he heals the mother-in-law of Peter from a fever. All the sick and the possessed were brought to Jesus likely due to the word of Jesus’ early healing spreading among the townspeople. Jesus did great ministry with the people, and I could imagine him resting contently that evening. The next morning, he prays. He decides to leave a place which assumedly he had the people’s gratitude and could continue to do great ministry there unencumbered. His response to the disciples shows his gaze is set on a wider scope: “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” Jesus is on the move.
Jesus is able to receive and give, but not cling to places of comfort. Leaving any place, community, or role which we truly loved and felt loved is difficult. No matter the number of moves or the type of changes, the separation does not get easier from something we enjoyed. I think a person learns to carry the communities and lessons from earlier times in fruitful ways for his or her personal circumstances. Also, we may experience a growth of trust in God’s care. Every move or change involves a time of suspense not knowing what the outcome will be. We need the reminder from mentors and those who have experienced change frequently to reassure us. Returning to the candidate at the beginning of this reflection, the vocation director, seeing the apprehension in the candidate, said to him, “You find good people wherever you go.” Whatever change we go through or move, God’s care and love moves with us because God is on the move.
Is there a change you have experienced recently that has been difficult? Where have you experienced suspense or concern over its outcome? Where have you experienced God’s care?