Liturgical day: Sunday 15th (B) in Ordinary Time
Gospel text (Mc 6,7-13): Jesus called the Twelve to him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over evil spirits. And He ordered them to take nothing for the journey except a staff; no food, no bag, no money in their belts. They were to wear sandals and were not to take an extra tunic. And he added, «In whatever house you are welcomed, stay there until you leave the place. If any place doesn't receive you and the people refuse to listen to you, leave after shaking the dust off your feet. It will be a testimony against them». So they set out to proclaim that this was the time to repent. They drove out many demons and healed many sick people by anointing them.
«Jesus called the Twelve to him and began to send them out two by two»
Fr. Jordi SOTORRA i Garriga
(Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain)
Today, the fifteenth Sunday of ordinary time (B), we read that Jesus sends out the Twelve, two by two, to preach. Up until now they had accompanied the Master through Galilee, but the time had come for them to start spreading the Gospel, the Good News: the news that God, Our Father, loves us with an endless love and that he has brought us into existence so as He could make us eternally happy. This news is for everybody. Nobody is left outside of these liberating teachings of Jesus. Nobody is excluded from the Love of God. It has to reach every corner of the Earth. The joy of full and universal salvation, through Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man for our sake, who died and was resurrected and is actively present in the Church, has to be announced to the world.
Equipped with «authority over evil spirits» (Mk 6,7) and with almost nothing else —«And He ordered them to take nothing for the journey except a staff; no food, no bag, no money in their belts. They were to wear sandals and were not to take an extra tunic» (Mk 6,8)— they begin the Church's mission. The effectiveness of their evangelization will not depend on human or material influences but on the power of God and on sincerity, on the faith and witness of he who is preaching. «the force ,the energy and the giving of oneself shown by the evangelists comes from a source which is the love of God, placed in our hearts by the gift of the Holy Spirit» (John Paul II).
Nowadays, the Good News still hasn't reached all corners yet, nor with the necessary intensity. Conversion has to be preached; there are many evil spirits to be defeated.
Do those of us who have received the Good News appreciate its value? Are we aware of it? Are we grateful for it? Do we feel like missionaries, sent out to preach with example and, if necessary with words, so that nobody who comes our way in this life be denied the Good News.