“Journey Lovingly, Travel Lightly!”
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B
The Scene: Special Olympics (10 runners)
The Goal: For all ten to get to the finish line.
The gun fired and all ten of these physically & mentally challenged young people left their starting blocks – except one! The crowds were cheering and yelling for these exceptional young people. The one guy began to grunt and stumble. A girl not too far ahead heard him and turned to see what was wrong. In seeing, she went back to help him so he too could get to cross the finish line. When the others noticed not everyone was together, they too turned around and went back to help the little guy struggling.
The Crowd fell silent!
Moments later all ten of these exceptional young people crossed the finish line together –
They all reached their goal without leaving one person behind. REMARKABLE!!
In this story, the only help these young people had to reach their goal was one another. They went out that day with one goal in mind and they reached it – together!
Jesus sent the twelve out to proclaim the Good News to all the world. Jesus told them they would need nothing; no food, no traveling bag, no money – just a walking stick. What he was saying to them was: all that you need, you already possess. Unlike many in our society today, the young mentally and physically challenged people in the story were smart enough to figure out that all they needed to reach their goal was one another. In our society many people forget that there are others on the journey with them and leave them behind. Our young people in the story knew that it took everyone to get to the finish line – they could not do it on their own.
If we listen to the gospel message and accept the challenge that Jesus gives us, we too will realize that all we need to reach our goal – eternal life, are the people on the journey with us, that is you and me. Living our faith lives, proclaiming the Good News, is not something we do on our own – just God and me. No, listen to the words of the gospel again: “Jesus began to send them out two by two” not alone!
Jesus asked the twelve, and the challenge is extended to us as well, not to rely on the sources of the world; wealth, power, prestige, affluence, authority, but rather to rely on the power and love of God and one another. Rather than trying to outdo one another with material possessions, Jesus recommends that we rely on one another’s hospitality. “Whatever house you find yourself in, stay there until you leave the locality.”
“If we journey lovingly and travel lightly, we will all reach the goal together.”
If we all work together, rather than finding fault with one another because someone in our family is not living the way we think they should live, or judging others by standards which we live by, we can all reach the finish line together.
Most of us can remember the first time we left home; whether it was to go off to college, getting married or to move away from home for work. We can remember the fears and anxieties over leaving Mom’s good cooking or someone else doing our laundry or Mom and Dad simply being there to comfort us in times of trouble. The twelve disciples must have felt the same way. So especially to our college bound students, remember – you are not alone – reach out and take the hand of someone else on the journey.
Jesus’ command to the disciples was very simple. This message can also be simple for us. All of us are on a journey, not just priests, not just those who are professed religious people. We have all been called and sent by virtue of our baptism. We have all been given a mission to complete – a goal to reach, and we all have concerns that we must address. The basic message here, however, is to travel with love, and travel lightly – get rid of all that is holding us down.
The heart of the message of Jesus then is to try not to get all weighted down with all the things we could take on the journey. Instead, only take what is necessary – our love for God and one another.
As we move to the Table of God’s love and Sacrament, we pray that God grant us the grace to befriend one another and trust that we will be there for one another so that we all reach the finish line – together!!