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Gospel: Mark 6: 7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Why did Jesus insist on such austere poverty from his Apostles? And what difference might this command make in our lives today?
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Part of the reason why Jesus instructed them to take no food, no sack, and no money in their belts was to lend credibility to their message.
By performing miraculous acts of healing for free, the Apostles will demonstrate that they are not looking to get rich; they are looking to save souls.
That’s an important reminder for all in ministry – the Church exists not for the sake of power or personal profit, but for salvation. As the Lord commands us at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “Go, make disciples of all nations.”
And elsewhere, “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and decay can destroy… but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.”
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Secondly, the Apostles must learn how to trust in Divine Providence. Not knowing where their next meal will be coming from, or who will shelter them that night, strips the Apostles of that natural human tendency towards self-reliance.
Although they’re empowered with Divine authority, they can neither feed nor shelter themselves. As the old saying goes, “No man is an island.”
A reminder to us all, in the words of Saint Paul, “to bear one another’s burdens.”
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The Church remains empowered with this divine authority to heal the sick and to cast out unclean spirits.
But we are also challenged to model that type of poverty – or detachment from worldly things – which the Apostles first experienced.
In what ways am I “poor,” or detached from worldly things? And how do I bear the burdens of others?
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“Take nothing for the journey,” the Lord says. Rather, learn to rely upon the charity of one another.
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Image credits: (1) Go Where I Send Thee, If I Walked With Jesus (2) Two Apostles, Peter Paul Reubens (3) Medium