There is a lot of wisdom in the words that Jesus spoke to his apostles in today’s gospel:
“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.”
The reason Jesus told his disciples to “take nothing for your journey,” may have been because they could travel lighter and faster without the burden of carrying a lot of possessions with them. We really should stop and think about this, because our possessions often weigh us down rather than free us. We are always cleaning, repairing, packing and finding places to store our possessions. We also spend long hours at work sometimes, in order to buy the latest gadgets on the market. This takes a lot of time, money, and effort away from our relationships with God, our family and friends, and the community that we live in though. (How much time do we spend watching television or surfing the internet?)
Another reason Jesus might have told his disciples not to take anything with them for the journey though, may have been because they would have to depend on other people for their food and shelter. This meant the apostles would have a lot more interactions with the people they encountered, and it would give the strangers they met time to get to know them a little more personally. Jesus’s instructions were actually a very loving act for the long term, because his apostles would never be alone, or lack for human companionship during their travels.
Jesus also showed his love for all of mankind, in today’s gospel when he sent his disciples out into the world to heal people, cure their diseases, cast out demons, and proclaim the kingdom of God. This is the awesome thing about Jesus, and his disciples too. They didn’t just talk about the kingdom of God, they followed up their words with actions that spoke more elequently of love than mere words ever could.
This kind of healing is something most of us long for today. Almost everyone has some kind of brokenness, demons from the past that haunt them, or medical problems that are not easy to live with. We long to be healed and made whole too. This may or may not happen in our lives here on earth though. Our lives were not meant to be perfect until we reach heaven, or else heaven would not feel like heaven to us then. Won’t it be an awesome thing, to be completely healed from all our physical problems, heartaches, regrets, or past sins by the time we reach heaven though? To be made clean, healed and whole again will be a blessing that we just can’t imagine right now.
The last verses in today’s gospel is a healing thing for a lot of people. Jesus told his disciples that where ever they went that the people did not welcome them, they were to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them when they left. Jesus’s teachings were not always about peace and harmony and getting along with everyone at all times. He recognized the negativity that some people have, and he did not force his disciples to subject themselves to it. Neither should we.
Life is hard enough sometimes, without allowing other people to make us even more miserable. Don’t feel guilty if you need to distance yourself from negative people sometimes. Not everyone will accept you and welcome you, and it is understandable if you do not want to allow their negativity to affect you too. Like Christ’s disciples in today’s gospel, we can find more positive minded people to associate with and not feel guilty about doing this. Life is too short to live under a cloud of negativity all the time.
The joy of the gospel that Pope Francis is always talking about, really is possible to obtain in our lives. We just need to let the negativity in our lives go – and not dwell on it any more.
The readings for Mass today emphasize that we are only traveling through this life, it is not our permanent home. We shouldn’t get too attached to our possessions because they will just weigh us down in the long run. Freedom is found in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus frees us to love God and love our family and friends, much more than the material things we own. The joy we experience through our possessions and pleasures of this world is fleeting, but love exists forever. Our own journey through life would be much easier though, if we took Jesus’s words to heart from today’s gospel.
