We all know how easy it is to stray away from the essentials in life. In today’s gospel Jesus outlines his priorities.

1. Travel light: Do not carry excess baggage that would not interfere with our freedom to be true witnesses to Christ and his values. I remembered many years ago I brought my mother with me to America, as she always wanted to see America. Of course for any Irish person their first visit to America is awesome. When it was time to come home the amount of baggage that we had accumulated was unbelievable – large family and many grandchildren. Fr. Juan had to get a pick up truck to bring us to the airport, and luckily enough the lady on the check in counter at DFW airport was of Irish descent and after a friendly interchange she allowed all our baggage to go through. This is a reflection on what happens in our lives? Jesus tells us to simplify our lives, focus on what is important. There is an old Irish saying ‘you have never seen a hearse with a trailer behind it’. We should show by our life style that our true desire is for God alone and God’s kingdom on earth. Saint Francis of Assisi was born into a wealthy Italian family in the 12^th century. As a teenager, he was a playboy and a compulsive shopper and squanderer. One day Francis was attending Mass. The gospel for the Mass was the same as today’s gospel. Francis was struck by Jesus’ instruction to travel light and preach the Gospel, taking nothing for the journey. Francis gave up his life and possessions and journeyed forth, in poverty, to preach the Gospel in towns and villages. The charismatic personality of Francis soon drew other young people to follow him. These first “Franciscans” went about caring for the sick and helping the poor. They lived in a deserted house near Assisi and they travelled around the Umbria region in central Italy and they were always cheerful and full of song. The group grew in such numbers that the 27-year-old Francis sought and got permission from Pope Innocent III to form a religious community. The teaching in today’s gospel is clear. All of us are called to preach the Gospel. And one way we can preach the Gospel is to follow the example of Francis. We are called to preach and live the gospel in our own home, in our own street and in our own corner of the world. St. Francis invited one of his followers to accompany him to the town to preach. When they came back, they had not preached and the young novice asked Francis when they were going to preach. Since we left the convent we were preaching with our lives. We can preach the Gospel by showing our love and concern for others. There is a legend of this wealthy lady, good person, mass, prayers; she was proud of her possessions, her fine mansion with lovely gardens. She was a very materialistic person. Gardener: a very simple person, even though he was poor, he was happy and he was always ready to help anyone who needed something. When the wealthy lady died she went to heaven, St. Peter assigned an angel to bring her to her domain in heaven. She saw some beautiful mansions, she said to herself I’m used to this, maybe it’s here, the angel kept walking, the houses got smaller, the angel kept walking. When they came to the periphery of the heavenly city, she was assigned a tumbled down shack. Why can’t I have that big house across the road: that’s for the gardener when he comes; there must be some mistake? That’s impossible; we can only build with the materials sent up by the future occupant. What materials am I sending up?
2. Jesus sent them out in pairs. Jesus wants us to work as a community. This is very relevant for our situation here in Ireland. Its wonderful to see in all our Parishes and communities people working together – liturgy, schools, graveyards, maintenance, Eucharist ministers, readers, PPC, etc. Sometimes we can allow a lot of pettiness, rivalry, criticism, and jealousy to divide us. Sometimes we can just think of our own little patch, our own little groups our own little church and we fail to see the bigger picture. Let’s continue to work together as a community.