I wonder how you or I might feel if our Lord suddenly appeared to us and commanded us to go out into the World and to proclaim the Good News, without taking anything but ourselves? No luggage, no money no nothing! I think I might feel overwhelmed and under prepared for the task in hand. Yet that is what Jesus commanded his disciples to do and by all accounts they did it. We are told that some places welcomed them and others not but on the whole it seems to have been all right for the disciples. They didn’t need any excess baggage but relied on the kindness of strangers who in response to what the proclaimed fed and water them and gave them a bed.
To our modern ears this may seem rather amazing but it was actually the culture of the time for strangers to be given a welcome and hospitality without the expectation of payment. There was a sort of ‘Clan’ mentality amongst the chosen people of God, where members were recognised and cared for. Much of this familial bond has gone today and we are more suspicious of each other and each other’s motives. I suspect the disciples would get short shrift in today’s society. This sense of being in a clan is residually remembered today but I think little practiced in reality. Perhaps, today’s Gospel is calling us to remember our origins and to care for each other be they friend or stranger.