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Gospel: Mark 16: 15-20
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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A businessman once approached Mark Twain with a false piety, proclaiming:
“Before I die, I intend to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I want to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud.”
To which Twain responded, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay right at home in Boston and keep them?”
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis Xavier, a priest of the 16th century who travelled extensively throughout Asia, baptizing over 40,000 people, following the command from Christ in today’s Gospel.
While that’s a remarkable feat, baptism was simply the first day in these Christians’ journeys.
Like that businessman from Boston, they’d be challenged to not only accept the faith, but also to live it out day by day.
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We face the same challenge.
As we enter into this Advent season, how is the Lord inviting us to live out our baptism in a deeper way?
Maybe that means becoming more aware of Christ in our neighbor, especially the poor and downtrodden. For example, Americans are forecasted to spend $1 trillion this holiday season. Yet most of us don’t need another sweater or an extra pair of socks.
But there are plenty who do. We should not forget the victims who lost everything in Hurricane Melissa. Or those who go without inside our own borders.
How different might our society be if we spent more on the poor than on those with plenty this Christmas?
Perhaps living out our baptism means growing in the virtues of faith, hope, and love; or being intentional about letting go of a grudge or a lingering habit; or more deliberate about spending time in prayer.
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As Mark Twain might say, “Whatever the Lord is inviting you to do, just stay here and do it.”
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Image credits: (1) Grace Lutheran Church (2) Saint Francis Baptizing, Britannica, 18th century (3) Stockcake