A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:1-6)
Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “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.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends out the Twelve to do what he has shown them to do through his words and actions: proclaim the good news and heal the sick. As he sends them out, Jesus gives the apostles power and authority over demons and illnesses. At the same time, he tells them the means to remain within the Kingdom of God even as they proclaim it. “Take nothing for the journey,” he says, and then lays out for them specific details. Just as Jesus proclaimed the Gospel and cured diseases, he sends the Twelve out to do the same, showing them how to sustain themselves along the way by trusting in his Father’s care and remaining in it.
Father in heaven, the words of Jesus your Son are clear: “take nothing for the journey.” When I consider how it is possible to live in the complete trust of your providential care, I realize how far I am from that. I have everything I need; I lack no thing. To the extent that I am able to detach from many things and from plentiful food, how would I see your power and authority to do your will take shape in me? It’s a question I don’t often ask. Lord, give me the grace during the day’s journey to give up something, to make a small sacrifice, for the sake of consciously coming into your presence. Then, help me call to mind, that strengthened by you, you will place in my way something I can do to proclaim your word, heal some hurt or illness, or bring before you someone who especially needs your love.
From the responsorial psalm: “He scourges and then has mercy; he casts down to the depths of the nether world, and he brings up from the great abyss. No one can escape his hand. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.” Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.