SUNDAY GOSPEL – Mark 6:6b-13.

Then he went about among the villages teaching.  Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.  He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.  He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.  If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”  So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.  They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

POINTERS FOR PRAYER

  1. Jesus gave the disciples a share in his mission by sending them out ahead of him. It was a gesture of trust and confidence on his part, even though they did not fully understand his mission. Have you ever been surprised by the trust shown to you by others to speak or act on their behalf?
  2. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two. Perhaps your experience gives you examples of the value of having another with you when engaged in an important task.
  3. The instructions given by Jesus may seem strange. They were intended to counteract practices by bogus preachers who used preaching as a mask for moneymaking. The disciples of Jesus were to focus on the mission given to them, not on their own comforts. Is it your experience that vested interests can impede a task, whereas having the right motives makes your mission more effective?
  4. The task of the disciples was to call people to repent, (metanoia= conversion, change the way we look at God and at other people). The core of the mission of Jesus was to change the attitude of people towards God from fear to trust. He also wanted people to see that life was a gift from God who loved them and wanted them to live it in all its fullness and abundance, despite its difficulties. Who have been the disciples, the people in your life who have called you to be more trusting in God? To whom have you given this call?

Our Gospel portrays key dimensions: 1. the sense of being sent or called, 2. the choice of life-style based on that of Jesus, 3.the confidence to face not being made welcome and yet to continue for the sake of the joy of the Gospel.

 This costly patterning of the disciples on the master will be explored more deeply in Mark 8-10.

Mark wants his readers to remember that we, too, may find resistance as we choose to be disciples of Jesus.