Show Notes
We are called to share the Good News of Jesus, but we are not called to do it alone. Fr. Rob reflects on how we are on this journey of faith together and what that means for us.
Gospel: Mk 6:7-13
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the word. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The Lord be with you.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark Lord Jesus summoned the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick, no food, no sack, no money for their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals, but not a second tunic.
He said to them, wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.
So they went off and preached repentance.
The twelve drove out many demonstration and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ if you've ever had someone come up to you, get real close and say, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?
It could be on a college campus.
Sometimes it happens at airports. It might even be when you answer your doorbell and you weren't quite sure how to answer that question.
That is a good thing.
The reason it is a good thing is because that's not how we view salvation.
It is not an individualized thing. It is not a me and God thing.
We see it very much as an us and God.
And if they would ask the question, have you accepted Jesus Christ as our lord and savior? The answer should be a quick yes.
The thing is, we believe that we go together toward the fullness of God's kingdom, the saints leading those of us who are weaker, and sometimes all of us being dragged kicking and screaming.
Yet we believe in communion with the greater christian world. We believe that we are all members of the body of Christ.
And in that sense it is about us all working to get a little bit closer to the fullness of God's kingdom.
Now, what that does for us is truly powerful, amazing, and salvific, because there are times when none of us are really as good as we ought to be. There are times where we struggle, where we're not as faithful as we need to be, where we're not as prayerful as we need to be, and our brothers and sisters help to make up what is weak and lacking in us.
And it's together we move toward Christ. It's together that we're united with him.
We get a little hint of that in this gospel because Jesus didn't send them out as individuals. He sent them out, as the scripture tells us, in pairs.
And he did that because he wanted them to understand that it wasn't all about them. It wasn't about how articulate they were. It wasn't about how forceful they were or how smart they were. It was about that they were sharing the truth that God's love is poured out for the whole world, and they did it together.
That is when we are at our best, when we see ourselves as members of a greater communion that we call the church. And that together we stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.
Together we proclaim the truth that God's love is in the world.
And together we declare Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior.
