Date: Sunday, July 12, 2015
It is easier for me to travel especially when going to Italy where you expect sun and hot weather. Shorts & T-shirts suffice. I admire parents who travel with children and must carry necessities. In our Gospel today Jesus sends the Twelve on a missionary journey. Jesus directs them to bring no bag, no food and no money! Essentials will be provided along the way. But Jesus does advise “the 12” to take a staff/walking stick, to travel 2 by 2 and, if they are rejected, to shake the dust from their sandals and move on. These prescriptions pertain to us as we announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Walking with a staff steadies a person on rough terrain. It helps us to keep our balance. Our “staff” is trust in God’s providence. No matter what we encounter or suffer along the journey of life, in faith, it contains the seed of a new beginning. Going off 2 by 2 will limit the number of towns to be visited but underscores the importance of team work. Jesus sets the standard: we are companions on journey, together to support and to encourage. How many persons going through difficult times are strengthened by friends who lift them up in prayer? We will face rejection and failure in our task i.e. living the Gospel of Christ. We will make mistakes and commit sin but we cannot become immobilized in regret and despair. We move on and shake the dust from our sandals. We can learn from our mistakes and experience forgiveness of our sins. A new chapter in our lives can unfold with the gift of God’s sustaining and renewing Spirit.
Pope Francis is travelling “light” in South America. Unencumbered, he proclaims the need for repentance and confesses the sins of the Church against indigenous people. He calls into question a new colonialism and capitalism without ethics that exploits the poor. He announces release from bondage and oppression. He anoints listeners with words of comfort and challenges the rich to use their resources to alleviate suffering. Pope Francis is taking to heart the directives of Jesus himself as he sends the Twelve on mission. At the end of Mass we are also commissioned to go into the world to announce the remarkable good news that we enjoy divine life in Jesus Christ. A gift that we must share.