Today we see Jesus sending His chosen Twelve on their mission. It is the first time He has sent them out on their own without His being with them. Basically, they are to do exactly as Jesus does and proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. They are to travel in total freedom and only to take with them what was absolutely necessary - as Jesus Himself did. It is understood that the people will support them in return for the services they render. And they are not to be choosy about where they are received; they are to stay in the first house that accepts them. And so they went out, from town to town, proclaiming the Good News and restoring people to wholeness wherever they went.

It really was the beginning of the Church. And it was the work of making the Kingdom a reality, God's will being "done on earth". The same mission is entrusted to each one of us although it will obviously be adapted to our life situation. We are called, individually and in community, to proclaim the Gospel by word and lifestyle. We are called to live lives of simplicity, using only those things which we need for life and work and rejecting all superfluity and luxury. The really rich are those whose needs are the least. It is a message our consumer world needs to hear and see.