Today’s Gospel selection from Luke made me realize: Have you ever noticed there are really (at least) two different interpretations of the word “prepare”? For example, what does it mean to prepare to be married? Well, you need to set a date, tell the Church, get a venue if you’re having a reception, procure wedding rings and a dress . . . it’s a pretty big list. Depending on the parish, you may even need to “prepare” by attending classes, meeting with the priest, and ensuring that you’re considered “ready” for marriage.
But there’s another form of “prepare,” which doesn’t involve actually doing much. Like, how do you prepare for your spouse saying that they’ve been offered a dream job in another country far from your family? Or your spouse saying they no longer love you? Or having a child with severe problems with drugs or alcohol? Or having everything you’ve built together destroyed by a natural disaster? Or a serious illness that incapacitates you or your mate? Or discovering that your spouse is abusive or a psychopath?
I’m sure you realize that list could go on and on, but I stopped because it’s — frankly — a bit depressing.
Sure, you can prepare for some of those items, in the broad sense: insurance policies, communication, going slowly toward marriage, etc. But at the end of the day, there are so many things that can happen during the course of a half-century marriage that it’s all-but-impossible to plan for them all. In fact, dwelling on too many of those is a good way to do harm to a relationship, by “preparing” for a jillion things that end up not happening. (“Honey, what if you discovered I was infertile? Honey, what if I cut off my fingers with a bandsaw? Honey, what if I suddenly develop agoraphobia and refuse to leave the house? . . .”)
In other words, you can prepare to be married (with a priest, a dress, rings, etc.), and yet still be remarkably unprepared to be married.
Today’s Gospel selection has Christ telling his disciples to be remarkably unprepared: “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”
So, Jesus seems to be encouraging his followers to be unprepared in the second sense of my definition: Don’t try to plan for every possible contingency.
But this is because the Apostles already “prepared” in the most important way possible. They knew Jesus! They heard His words. They believed. They turned their lives over to God. In that regard, they were as “prepared” as they could ever be.
Similarly, in a marriage, you’re as “prepared” as you’re going to be if you’ve devoted yourself to loving your spouse, to trusting in God, and to working as hard as you can in being the best mate you can be, and being the best follower of Christ that you can be.
This does not mean that everything is guaranteed to work out. Even in the Gospels, there are stories of Jesus telling his followers to rely on their faith, they tried to do so, and they failed. (See the account of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33, and Jesus’ disciples falling asleep during the agony in the garden from Matthew 26:38-46 as two examples.)
But, in the grand scheme, if you’ve accepted Jesus and lived with Him, you’ve already prepared . . . for the next life. And even in times of hardship, that preparation for Heaven can provide remarkable comfort during times of stress in this fleeting world.
There may be times in your life when you feel unprepared for the challenges life has given you. But you don’t walk alone; Christ is with you, and He has prepared you. Trust in Him, and journey through your hardships . . . together.
Today’s readings: Prv 30:5-9; Ps 119:29,72,89,101,104,163; Lk 9:1-6
