From The WORD in Other Words by Fr Ferdinand Bajao SVD (Philippines)
Hebrews 12,18-19,21-24
Mark 6,7-13
She had worked hard and stayed in Rome for some difficult years. Family depended on her so-called fortunes in a faraway land. However, inevitable circumstances back home demanded that she go home. Uncertainty. Fear. Then the words of the gospel became palpable: “He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money…”
“Faith at lakas ng loob lang dala ko, Father.” (Father, I carry with me Faith and strong will.) It is another leap of faith like the one she did when she took the flight to Rome years ago. Now, she is about to plunge into another pool that guarantees nothing. She believes in Providence, no doubt, but it is the pain of waiting for it to arrive that is skinning her alive! She is already haunted by the ghost of the “easier” life she has known that is yet to die in three days. Take nothing for the journey.
“Ito po Father ang lakasan ng loob na gawin ko…” (This is it Father, I will have my strong will and determination.) This is a reality. No ornamented word or a well-thought proverb can banish the fear of this woman. Assurances of prayer and goodwill are welcome but sometimes they only come as sudden bursts offlames of matchsticks, but cannot sustain a fire. It takes more than human words: “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns,and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” (Matthew 6:26) “And it’s true po. Never nya ako pinabayaan.” (And it’s true, He never left me.)
Éditions Verbum Bible 