“He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick. …” The simple walking stick — not the fancy, manufactured poles you can buy in a sporting goods store but a wooden stick — is a beautiful symbol for the commission we all have to bring the Good News to people. It is a humble thing. You don’t have to be rich or powerful or brilliant or beautiful or articulate to have a walking stick. In the Gospel reading today (Mk 6:7-13), the disciple apprentices of Jesus are sent out to preach and heal as He did, taking only a walking stick. They do not have lots of years of education, official positions, ordination, money. They have only their commitment to Him, their experiences of Him to share, their remembered words of His to repeat, and the commission He gave them. That is their walking stick. The people they encounter will be free to receive the disciples’ authentic selves and their words about Jesus and His kingdom, or reject them. Think about it: We have everything the disciples had to work with. We have our own spiritual walking sticks. Can we do what Jesus asks of all His disciples, to bring other people the gift of knowing Him and following the Jesus Way? What’s stopping us!
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia; Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash
