February 5th, 2026
Good morning, friends.
Today's Gospel hit me differently this morning. Maybe it's because I've been thinking a lot lately about what we actually need versus what we think we need. Or maybe it's because I just watched a young seminarian in Nigeria pack his entire life into two small bags as he prepared to move to a new parish assignment. Either way, Mark 6:7-13 feels especially close to home today.
The Original Travel-Light Movement
Jesus does something interesting in today's Gospel. He sends the Twelve out on mission, but with a peculiar set of instructions: "He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick, no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic."
Think about that for a second. No backup plan. No emergency fund. No extra clothes "just in case." Just you, your sandals, a stick, and an extraordinary trust that God will provide.
It sounds reckless, doesn't it? By modern standards, it's terrible planning. But Jesus wasn't teaching them project management, he was teaching them something far more radical: complete dependence on God's providence.
What David Knew About Passing the Torch
Our first reading gives us another angle on this. King David, at the end of his life, gives his final instructions to his son Solomon. It's not a tutorial on palace management or political strategy. Instead, David says: "Be strong and be a man! Keep the charge of the LORD, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees."
In other words: Don't trust in your own strength. Trust in God's way.
David could have left Solomon with armies, wealth, alliances, all the things kings typically rely on. But instead, he leaves him with something infinitely more valuable: a relationship with God and a clear path to walk.
This is the same principle Jesus teaches the disciples. Travel light, not because possessions are evil, but because when you're weighed down with too much stuff, you forget who's actually carrying you.
Mission Territories Understand This Better Than Most
I've seen this principle lived out in mission territories around the world. I think of the young priests I've met through the work of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, men who serve in places where "traveling light" isn't a spiritual exercise, it's just reality.
There's a diocesan priest I know in rural Kenya who serves five villages spread across 40 kilometers. He doesn't own a car. He has one cassock for Sundays and one for weekdays. His "rectory" is a single room attached to a chapel that floods during rainy season. And yet, when you meet him, you meet someone who radiates joy.
Why? Because he's learned what the Twelve learned on that first mission trip: God provides what's needed, when it's needed, through the people He sends you to serve.
The Stuff We Carry That Weighs Us Down
Here's what strikes me about Jesus's instructions: He's not just talking about physical baggage.
Yes, the disciples weren't supposed to pack extra tunics. But more importantly, they weren't supposed to carry:
- Anxiety about tomorrow
- Fear of rejection (Jesus tells them to just shake the dust off and move on)
- The need to control outcomes
- Pride that demands success on their terms
We all carry invisible suitcases filled with worry, past failures, and future fears. Jesus is saying: leave those behind too.
The seminarians and priests supported by the Society of St. Peter the Apostle teach me this constantly. When you're forming local clergy in mission territories, you quickly realize that these men aren't coming from wealth or privilege. They're not entering ministry with safety nets. They're saying yes to God with empty hands and full hearts.
And that's exactly the posture Jesus is calling for.
Peace as the Only Currency That Matters
Notice what Jesus does give the disciples: authority over unclean spirits and the ability to heal. In Luke's version of this story, he tells them to offer peace to every house they enter.
Peace. Healing. Spiritual authority.
These are the only possessions that matter in mission work. You can't pack them in a suitcase. You can't lose them. And ironically, the more you give them away, the more you have.
I see this in the formation programs supported through the Society of St. Peter the Apostle. We're not sending seminarians into the field with business degrees and marketing plans. We're forming them in prayer, Scripture, sacramental life, and pastoral charity. We're teaching them to travel light spiritually so they can move freely wherever the Spirit leads.
What This Means for Us Today
Most of us reading this aren't preparing for rural missionary work. We're not about to shake the dust off our feet as we leave unwelcoming villages. So what does "traveling light" look like in our actual lives?
I think it means a few things:
First, it means examining what we're carrying that God never asked us to carry. That grudge from 2019. The need to appear successful. The anxiety about every possible future scenario. The comparison game with people on social media. Jesus didn't pack those things for the Twelve, and He's not asking us to carry them either.
Second, it means trusting God with today rather than hoarding for every possible tomorrow. I'm not saying don't plan or save, I'm saying don't let the accumulation of security become a substitute for trust in God's providence.
Third, it means being willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of mission. The disciples couldn't control their schedule, their meals, or their accommodations. They had to receive hospitality, which requires humility. They had to adapt, which requires flexibility. They had to trust strangers, which requires faith.
The Sending Continues
Here's the beautiful thing: Jesus is still sending people out. He's still calling men and women to serve in mission territories, often with very little in their pockets and everything in their hearts.
The Society of St. Peter the Apostle exists to support exactly these people, the local priests, sisters, and brothers who are building the Church in the most challenging places on earth. We help form indigenous clergy who know the language, the culture, and the struggles of their people. We invest in men and women who are already traveling light because they've learned that the mission doesn't require much luggage, just much love.
When you support this work, you're not just funding education or building infrastructure. You're participating in the same sending that Jesus began with the Twelve. You're helping someone travel light so they can move freely in response to God's call.
A Personal Challenge
So here's what I'm sitting with today, and I invite you to sit with it too:
What would it look like to travel lighter this week?
Maybe it's letting go of a worry you've been carrying that's too heavy for you anyway. Maybe it's giving away something you've been hoarding "just in case." Maybe it's saying yes to an opportunity that feels risky because you can't control all the variables.
Or maybe it's as simple as this: trust that God will provide what you need for today's mission, and don't borrow anxiety from tomorrow.
The Twelve went out with nothing and returned with everything: stories of healing, demons cast out, lives transformed. Not because they were well-prepared, but because they were well-sent.
You are well-sent too. For today's mission, you have everything you need.
Now go. Travel light. Trust deeply.
– Fr. Deji
Learn more about supporting the formation of local clergy in mission territories at the Society of St. Peter the Apostle.