14th Sunday of Ordinary Time - July 2, 2022

14 th Sunday
One of the greatest misconceptions of the Christian life I believe, is the
idea that everyone is good and that everyone is trust worthy.
Yet this Gospel pericope stands as a reminder, that while everyone may
be good, there are folks who are not trustworthy.
“Behold, Jesus said, I am sending you out as lambs among wolves,
therefore be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. “
Merriam-webster defines “trustworthy” as someone or something
worthy of confidence; dependable.
I often naively approached life as if everyone was essentially
trustworthy, and yet I have learned, as I am sure many of you have,
over the years, that there are only a few persons in my life that are
truly “trust worthy…meaning…those worthy of my confidence.”
I have come to understand the saying of Jesus to the disciples in today’s
Gospel….be as wise as serpents and yet as gentle as doves….
I have learned that sometimes we simply are not able to bear the
weakness of one another, and then we claim a person is not
trustworthy, yet Jesus reminds us there are trustworthy folks, those
who can handle both our holiness and our weakness.
There are people who know and understand that perfection is God’s
realm and our realm is doing our best to be and become Christ like.
Placing all our trust in a person can be very tenuous, and even
dangerous.
Placing our complete trust in God, is absolute.
That is what I believe Jesus was teaching the first disciples…first, go out
at least in twos…it is necessary to have at least one person in whom
you can build trust and find the depth of friendship that allows us to
grow. Secondly, be careful who you talk with. Third, offer your
holiness and if it received, begin to build a trust with one another.
Finally, remember, total and complete trust in God is our ultimate call
for it is in heaven that our names are inscribed.
We are living in a time of what I believe is a crisis of trust. We have
placed our trust in the various systems and people who make up our
world. And we can see the results of assuming that trust. War, ego,
blackmail, fraud, scandal….they all stem from misplaced trust.
If we would allow ourselves the grace to say ok….we messed
up…systems and leaders, are people, and we can look to them for
guidance, assurance, direction and hope. But total trust, that ability of
a person or system to bear our confidence is reserved for God alone.
Systems and leaders may disappoint us, yet those systems and leaders
may be trying their best to remind us, it is in God in whom we should
trust, not them! God is the one able to bear our confidences totally.
My spiritual director recently had me reach into my pocket and look at
every coin, and every printed bill that I had in my pocket and
encouraged me to remember what our forebears chose to imprint on
every single coin and every printed currency of our nation….In God We
Trust
It is a good challenge and good reminder…as we step into our
futures…to remember, few can bear our holiness and our weaknesses,
but God always can and always does.