“Take nothing”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 25 September 2024
Proverbs 30:5-9     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 9:1-6

Jesus said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic” (Luke 9:3).

Lord Jesus,
bless me to continue
in this journey with You,
in You,
taking nothing
but You;
at first,
I could not believe
it to be true
that many times,
I doubted,
taking so many things with me
in this journey;
but, as we walk farther,
Lord, the more I realized,
that indeed,
I need to take nothing.

The farther we journey,
Jesus, the more I take
and bring,
the more difficult,
the slower I move;
so true that the truly
rich among us is the one
whose who needs least in life;
grant me the grace,
O Lord,
the grace of integrity,
of wholeness
and harmony between my
inner self and
 outward behavior;
like the author of the Proverbs,
"give me neither poverty nor
riches; provide me only with the food
I need; lest being full,
I deny you or being in want,
I steal, and profane the name
of my God"
(30:9).
Amen.