15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

In today’s Gospel, when Jesus sends the disciples out two by two, he orders them to take nothing for their journey. No bread, no bag and no money in their belts.

Jesus’ “no bag” instruction sounds very wise if we’re flying. If you check four or more bags you’ll likely be paying up to $100 each. But perhaps Jesus is speaking of a heavier kind of baggage that we need to leave behind if we are going to follow him. That heavy bag is fear. It is packed with images of being unqualified, fears of not being able to perform, of not knowing what to say or do, fear of being rejected and the ultimate, humiliating image of failure.

Leave that heavy bag of fear at home and “fly” free.

Deacon Dick Folger