Balanced in Christ

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

May the peace and blessings of the Lord fill you today and always!

I love the image that was used in olden days of the instrument of a “Balance,” which was a weighing measuring device of old. I wonder if all of us can even picture this olden image in our mind’s eye. This was a two-sided plated tool that could compare and accurately account if two different objects carried and held the same equal weight. If one side was heavy the other side would be off balance.

I think that this is a good image to recall to mind today for our readings. We are called to “balance” our lives in both prayer and ministry. Prayer is a state of being “in longing for God” and ministry is the expression of our “longing for God” lived out in life. These are both such relative and collaborating movements within our own hearts. Sometimes this can be a real balancing act in life, to keep both these in the same weight and balance that promotes a “balanced life” in God and grace.

Jesus reminds us and the disciples in our Gospel today “to take nothing with you for the journey” -- all we need will be given for our needs. So, the disciples of Jesus went off, unencumbered with what might “weigh them down.” They were balanced in the scale of discipleship and sent to proclaim the “Good News” that they were “balanced” in Christ. Let us all equally be “balanced” in all that we hold in God’s love and grace.

I am your brother,

Fr. Larry, O.F.M.