February 03, 2022

Mk 6:7-13

He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved. 

What Are You Carrying?

I’m an over-packer. When I’m traveling, I tend to bring more than I need. As I’m collecting items for my trip, I consciously notice that I probably won’t need many of the things, but I still put them in my suitcase, just in case. In the end, I have to take a bigger bag than I need, as well as the anxiety of worrying about all of the “what ifs” that come with the things I’m bringing.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples to pack light. Their journey will be long, so having less will make walking those distances easier, but there is a spiritual lesson here. How many unnecessary things are we carrying with us in our minds? These stories that we hold on to weigh us down. God invites us to shake their dust from our feet and not let these things hold on to us.

What are you carrying that you are being invited to let go of?

—Robby Francis is the Director of Campus Ministry at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.

Prayer

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

—Psalm 55:22