The value that Jesus holds out to us in today’s gospel is the value of traveling lightly through life by living more simply.  It’s the value of not making too much of material things so that they get in the way of our reaching out to God in trust or to our neighbor in service.

When Jesus instructs us to travel lightly as we journey through life, He is not telling us that we have to get rid of our cars, empty our freezers,  clean out our closets or cut up our credit cards.   He is telling us not to let our material goods make us forget our dependence on God or harden our hearts to the poor.  He is urging us not to become selfish with what we have so that we become insensitive to the injustice and oppression that surround us.

In other words– we travel the safest in this life if we travel the lightest.  We gain more by giving than by getting.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell