Today we celebrated the Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle. The Gospel reading was Matthew 10.7-13 on Jesus' commissioning of the Twelve. Rather than quoting the verses, I'll just summarize by saying that Jesus instructed the Apostles to (1) proclaim the Kingdom of heaven at hand, (2) do the works of mercy, (3) travel light, not taking any money nor supplies, and (4) look for a worthy person and stay there, letting their peace come upon the house. Verse 14 was not in the reading, and it reads: "Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words – go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet."
These instructions also make a good guide for us. That is, we should (1) spread the good news of salvation every chance we have, (2) love all our neighbors, (3) be detached from material things, and (4) based upon verse 14, let God, not us, take care of those who would not follow him – this may seem heartless on our part, but we must place our trust in God the most.
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