By: Fr. Norlan Julia, SJ
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 12, 2015
Anyone who has travelled by plane knows the rule, “Travel light” by heart. No one wants to be subjected to the hassle and embarrassment of having to unzip one’s luggage in front of fellow passengers, most of them strangers, queueing at the check-in counter. No one wants to reveal the bits and pieces of shirts, trousers, personal hygiene items and other stuff all crammed into a luggage filled to bursting capacity. No one wants to bid farewell painfully to a bottle of shower gel or an expensive cologne just because one has exceeded the allowable weight for checked-in or hand-carried luggage. Hence, the rule: travel light.
Jesus sends his disciples off on mission with authority over unclean spirits and with instructions that they should take nothing for the journey, not food, not money, not a second tunic. They are to carry only a walking stick; they could wear a sandal. This could be scary. What if one goes hungry in the course of the trip? What if it gets terribly cold or unbearably hot? Why be content with a walking stick and a sandal?
Jesus sends his disciples on mission after schooling them in the ways of God the Father. Jesus reminded them of God’s parental providence which will provide for their needs just as God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the fields (Mt. 6.26,28). God does not turn a deaf ear to those who persistently plead to him for their daily bread and fish (Mt. 6.9-10). God opens the door to those who knock and gives to those who ask (Mt.6.7-8). Hence, anxieties regarding food or clothing have no place in the hearts of a disciple who is a child of the Father. For Jesus, it is the pagans who busy themselves with these things. For the heavenly Father knows the needs of his children. Thus, Jesus tells his disciples, “set your hearts on God’s Kingdom first and on God’s righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well” (Mt. 6.33).
Placed on a weighing scale, the Kingdom and its righteousness will not tip the scale past any baggage allowance limit if it is all a disciple travels with. But if a disciple embarks on the missionary journey with a thousand and one items in her luggage, then she might find herself harassed and hassled with everything except the one thing necessary: the proclamation of the good news of God’s Reign. Hence, besides the assurance of the Father’s providence for her daily needs, the disciple must also carry with her the certainty that Jesus’ authority has been given to her. The disciple will preach and work wonders in the name of Jesus, with the power of Jesus, with the person of Jesus. So that anyone who welcomes the disciple welcomes Jesus himself. And anyone who receives Jesus receives the Father himself (Mt.10.40).
The disciple should be delighted that sometime along the missionary journey, even as he is wearied and withered from walking under the searing summer sun, a cup of cold water awaits him, for which the giver will not lack a reward (Mt.10.42).