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Gospel: Mark 3: 13-19
Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Jesus has started building his team.
Yesterday, Mark told us the crowds were “pressing in” on him. Word of Christ’s power has spread so far that people are coming, seemingly from the ends of the earth, to encounter Jesus.
As any leader might tell you, growth is hard to manage; humanly speaking, Jesus cannot be everywhere at once, so he begins delegating his authority, allowing the Apostles to preach and to cast out demons in his name.
As the old adage goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
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Thank God, literally, that his ministry of healing and salvation did not end with the Twelve Apostles.
Generation after generation, the Christian faith has been handed on, first in the Sacrament of Baptism, so that we – the successors of those first Christians – might continue expanding the kingdom of God.
As Teresa of Avila once wrote:
“Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.”
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We’re all members of “team Jesus.”
So, how will you use your hands, feet, and eyes for the Lord today?
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Image credits: (1) Amazon.com (2) Christadelphians of Nova Scotia (3) Crosswalk.com