If you suddenly discover that you have some urgent matter to accomplish, or some important assignment which would determine your grades in school or university, or some significant task which had been assigned to you and you had completely forgotten about it, what would you do? Surely you would frantically put in extra effort and work at a feverish pace, hoping to get the job done before the deadline comes. Some of us would even be willing to forgo meals, sleep and other things to gain extra time. But how many of us would do the same when it comes to proclaiming the Good News? Do we consider proclaiming the Good News urgent and important enough that we are willing to make sacrifices to accomplish such a task? Or have we become complacent, thinking that we have all the time in the world or we feel it is not that urgent?
In today's Gospel, we are told: "Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and let none of you take a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there; and when you leave, let it be from there. As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave their town shake the dust from your feet as a sign to them.’ So they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the Good News and healing everywhere."
Notice that Jesus instructed the Twelve to bring nothing for the journey, as He did not want them to be encumbered or burdened with things, and He wanted them to go forth in haste and urgency to preach the Good News and heal. If we are Christians, followers of Christ, shouldn't we too be taking our task of preaching the Good News seriously? Or have we become comfortable with resting on our laurels, taking our time and enjoying life?
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