Goodness and Providence!

Thursday, February 5, 2026

1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12; Mk 6:7-13

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus sending his disciples into mission. 

Before sending them out on mission, Jesus instructs his disciples not to carry food, sack, or money. Why would Jesus forbid his disciples from carrying things that are otherwise essential for their mission? 

In forbidding his disciples from carrying things, Jesus gives them two important lessons. 

At first, Jesus wants his disciples to concentrate on the ‘being’ dimension as missionaries of God. When we are the worthy ministers of God, all that we need will be given to us. Here is where Jesus expects his disciples to trust in God’s providence. Because ‘being’ fulfils ‘having,’ Jesus wishes that his disciples prefer being over having.

Secondly, we need to understand that by wanting his disciples to trust in God’s providence, Jesus does not promote a pessimistic view about trusting humans. Instead, Jesus wants his disciples to discover that the providence of God is always experienced through human goodness. Hence, our reliance on God takes on a new meaning not only when we benefit from the goodness of others but also when we let others benefit from our own. 

Human goodness is the instrument of Divine Providence. Those who experience it have the responsibility to pass it on to others so that they discover God through human goodness. 

Let us pray that our goodness may become the divine providence that others will experience. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar