Carry The Gospel with You

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today’s Gospel is simple. Jesus sends the Twelve out and tells them to take almost nothing with them: no walking stick, no sack, no food, no money, not even a second tunic. That sounds impractical. We usually think being prepared means having more – more resources, more security, more control. But Jesus seems to be teaching them something deeper: if you are going to carry the Gospel, you cannot carry everything else with you.

That is a good theme for the feast of St Pio of Pietrelcina. Padre Pio was a man of deep prayer, suffering, confession, and spiritual struggle. His life reminds us that holiness is not about having an easy life. It is about belonging completely to God. And sometimes that means letting go of the things we lean on too heavily – our pride, our need to be understood, our desire to control outcomes, even our obsession with what other people think of us.

Jesus also tells the disciples that if a place does not welcome them, they are to shake the dust from their feet and move on. That line is powerful because some of us carry far too much dust. We carry old arguments, old disappointments, old insults, old failures. We replay things that happened years ago as if they happened this morning. And slowly, the dust becomes part of us. Jesus is not telling us to become cold or indifferent. He is telling us that there are moments when faith means releasing what we cannot change and continuing the mission.

Padre Pio once became known especially for the confessional because he understood that people carry heavy things. Sin is heavy. Guilt is heavy. Resentment is heavy. But Christ did not come to leave us carrying all of it. He came to free us. The tragedy is that sometimes God has already forgiven us, but we are still carrying what He has asked us to put down. Sometimes the greatest act of faith is not doing more; it is finally surrendering what no longer needs to travel with us.

So perhaps the question today is very simple: What am I carrying that Jesus never asked me to carry? Maybe it is someone’s opinion of you. Maybe it is regret. Maybe it is anger. Maybe it is fear about the future. Jesus sends His disciples out light because a heart full of unnecessary baggage has very little room left for trust. And the Christian life is not about travelling with everything under control. It is about travelling with Christ.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, show me what I need to leave behind. Free me from the burdens I keep carrying out of fear, pride, or resentment. Give me the simplicity of St Pio: to trust You, to pray deeply, and to walk where You send me. Help me travel light, so that my heart has room for You. Amen.

– Homily by Rev. Fr. Patrick Agbeko