Packing my cases for a trip is one of the chores I hate most. I like travelling light, but usually, I have to take more stuff than I personally would like to, and I end up with a case just a few milligrams short of the airline\u2019s allowance and with hand-baggage pulling my arm out of its socket. I suppose I\u2019m not unique in this respect…<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s gospel Jesus sends his Apostles out in pairs on a particular mission: they are to cast out devils and call people to repentance. He gives them the necessary authority to fulfil the mission, and he instructs them what to do and how to behave. Among these instructions is a piece of advice regarding their luggage: \u2018take nothing for the journey: [\u2026] no bread, no haversack, no coppers, no spare tunic.\u2019<\/em> There are only two items they should take with them: a pair of sandals on their feet and a staff in their hands. They are to be modestly equipped, even by the standards of ancient Palestine; they are to travel really light. On the other hand, they don\u2019t risk being charged at the check-in desk for excess luggage\u2026<\/p>\n A pair of sandals and staff \u2013 these are the only two items listed in a positive manner for the journey in this passage of the gospel. Both have symbolic meanings; that\u2019s why they are mentioned, and I\u2019m going to present these briefly. Sandals were the most common footwear in the Middle East, worn by all classes of society in Palestine, even by the very poor. They were dispensed with indoors and were only put on by persons about to undertake some business away from home. In the Old Testament sandals were normally worn by an official, a soldier or a messenger. These three roles are present in the mission on which Jesus sends his Apostles: they are representing Him, they are fighting against the enemy (Satan) and they are proclaiming the kingdom of God. The staff refers to Moses, the father figure of Israel. He was sent by God to liberate his people from Egypt, and he used his staff to perform miracles, like turning the waters of the Nile red, parting the Red Sea, or providing fresh water from the rock in the desert. His staff is a symbol of authority and power granted by God to Moses in order to represent God.<\/p>\n Jesus in today\u2019s gospel is not a trip advisor, concerned about the Apostles\u2019 convenience while travelling. His instructions actually address their attitude, rather than their luggage. In St Matthew\u2019s gospel, Jesus tells his followers not to worry too much about food or clothing, ending with these words: \u2018seek first God\u2019s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.\u2019<\/em> In their mission, the Apostles are to rely on Jesus only, nothing else. And that\u2019s the hardest bit.<\/p>\n In our everyday lives, we have, and we use many things and services. Some of them are indispensable, some of them make life easier, and some of them are means of entertainment. We ought to be grateful that we are lucky enough to have access to many of them, unlike so many others around the world. But these bits and pieces, so useful and helpful, can give us an illusion of power, independence and self-sufficiency. The more we become attached to them, the greater is the risk of missing what really matters: friendship, companionship and mutual love. At the end of the day, these are the things that really matter when we travel through life. It\u2019s not about your luggage, it\u2019s about your attitude. It\u2019s not what you have that makes you great; it\u2019s who you are.<\/p>\n Image by tookapic<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Packing my cases for a trip is one of the chores I hate most. I like travelling light, but usually, I have to take more stuff than I personally would like to, and I end up with a case just a few milligrams short of the airline\u2019s allowance and with hand-baggage pulling my arm out of its socket. I suppose I\u2019m not unique in this respect…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","category-year-b"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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