Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Frater Kevin James Pizzaras SVD – Portugal
Thursday 14th Week in Ordinary Time
On a long pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, I traversed a path unknown and unfamiliar but filled with adventure and learning. Guided by the yellow arrows and shell signs, I was determined to persevere on every decisive step and move forward to reach my destination.
What started as a solitary walk was soon transformed into an exciting dialogue with diverse cultures, faiths, experiences, and persons. Every pilgrim had a food or a story to share. It was, for me, a meaningful encounter of mission, reaching out to, and being with others.
In the gospel, Jesus teaches us the way of doing mission and shows us the way of becoming a missionary too. We learn from him that mission, as identity and activity, can be both very inviting and very demanding. His instructions are easy to understand but difficult to practice. It is, as the cliché goes, taking the road less travelled.
Jesus calls us to a radical discipleship that entails total dependence on God’s grace and through the people we serve. Thus, as baptized Christians, and missionaries, we humbly put our trust in God who is the source and the goal of mission.
Life’s journey has its twists and turns, curves and zigzags, crossroads anddead ends. Sometimes, we lose the track. Nevertheless, we always have the chance to find new ways and means.
As Paulo Coelho, in his 1987 novel The Pilgrimage beautifully puts it, “We always know which is the best road to follow, but we follow only the road that we have become accustomed to.” So, dear reader, if life were a journey, take the road less travelled, i.e. God’s way and not ours.
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