As You Go!

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Hos 11: 1-4, 8-9; Mt 10: 7-15

Today’s Gospel highlights the formation of disciples in and through the missionary journey. 

Though Jesus is sending his disciples into mission to particular destinations, he wants to form them through the journey itself.

Modern travel has been designed around the comfort and luxury of our homes. Facilities like cabs, lounge access, flying first class, staying in comfortable hotels, and dining at excellent restaurants have made our travel comfortable and memorable. As a result, we measure the quality of a journey by how little inconvenience we experience. 

However, it is not so for Jesus and his disciples. For Jesus, travel or journey has a purpose. It is to announce God’s Kingdom. Such missionary work requires an attitude of simplicity and renunciation. Hence, for a disciple of Jesus, travel or journey is not built around comfort but around mission. Hence, putting on the proper attitude for mission is much-needed here.

This is why, for Jesus, formation towards mission begins with travelling light. Here, travelling light is not about carrying fewer possessions but symbolizes simplicity and radical trust in God. By overcoming the temptation to lean on material security, Jesus’ disciples learn to trust in God’s providence. As a result, their confidence comes from having God Himself as their security.

For Jesus’ disciples, the spirit of renunciation and simplicity associated with the missionary journey are not to be counted as weakness but as spiritual strength. For them, the mission does not begin only when they reach their destination but from the moment they set out, because the journey itself is part of their mission.

The highway for God’s mission becomes the very place of spiritual formation. For this reason, the travel towards the place of God’s mission is, in itself, a spiritually purifying experience. The disciples of Jesus discover God’s presence not just in their mission but already when they are on their way. Thus, the missionaries are transformed agents because of God’s work in them. 

When we learn to trust God as our source and security, the realization keeps us humble and focused. We then understand that the mission belongs to God, and our faithfulness becomes the yardstick to measure its success. Thus, as we walk on the road, we carry Christ in us for others to witness before we proclaim him in the mission field.

Let us pray that our journey of life may center around God’s mission.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar