Doesn’t Quite Fit

Reading: Lk 9:1-6

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

Reflection: Doesn’t quite fit

Have you ever fought your way into a pair of jeans that doesn’t quite fit? Or worn a pair of shoes long past their usable life? You learn to live with the perpetual state of discomfort… the slight limp, the little dig, that tiny pinch. How much discomfort am I willing to live with before I give in: spend the money and time to go shopping for what I need.

In my life, there have been several times where God has given me nudges and pinches as if to say, “this doesn’t quite fit you anymore.” Perhaps it is the ministry that no longer feels life-giving, the job that does not use my gifts to their fullest or any of the recurring happenings in my life that no longer make sense but have been put on autopilot.

God keeps saying to me, “this doesn’t quite fit.” Until I shed these things that no longer serve their purpose in my life, there will not be room for God to clothe me in the great dream he has for me and for my life. God keeps calling me, and each one of us, to proclaim the Gospel with our lives, and when we find that we are in a place where people no longer want to hear what we have to say, then it is time to “shake the dust from our feet” and continue to the places where our greatest gifts can be exercised and celebrated.

Prayer: Teach Me Your Ways
Teach me your way of looking at people:
as you glanced at Peter after his denial,
as you penetrated the heart of the rich young man
and the hearts of your disciples.

I would like to meet you as you really are,
since your image changes those with whom you
come into contact.

Remember John the Baptist’s first meeting with you?
And the centurion’s feeling of unworthiness?
And the amazement of all those who saw miracles
and other wonders?

How you impressed your disciples,
the rabble in the Garden of Olives,
Pilate and his wife
and the centurion at the foot of the cross. . . .

I would like to hear and be impressed
by your manner of speaking,
listening, for example, to your discourse in the
synagogue in Capharnaum

or the Sermon on the Mount where your audience
felt you “taught as one who has authority.”

—Pedro Arrupe, SJ

Excerpt from Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits, edited by Michael Harter, SJ.