Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Mark 6: 7-13

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 in 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 from there.
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 demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Why did Jesus insist on such austere poverty from his Apostles? And what difference might this command make in our lives today?

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Part of the reason why Jesus instructed them to take no food, no sack, and no money in their belts was to lend credibility to their message. 

By performing miraculous acts of healing for free, the Apostles will demonstrate that they are not looking to get rich; they are looking to save souls.

That’s an important reminder for all in ministry – the Church exists not for the sake of power or personal profit, but for salvation. As the Lord commands us at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “Go, make disciples of all nations.”

And elsewhere, “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and decay can destroy… but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.” 

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Secondly, the Apostles must learn how to trust in Divine Providence. Not knowing where their next meal will be coming from, or who will shelter them that night, strips the Apostles of that natural human tendency towards self-reliance.

Although they’re empowered with Divine authority, they can neither feed nor shelter themselves. As the old saying goes, “No man is an island.” 

A reminder to us all, in the words of Saint Paul, “to bear one another’s burdens.”

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The Church remains empowered with this divine authority to heal the sick and to cast out unclean spirits. 

But we are also challenged to model that type of poverty – or detachment from worldly things – which the Apostles first experienced.

In what ways am I “poor,” or detached from worldly things? And how do I bear the burdens of others?

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“Take nothing for the journey,” the Lord says. Rather, learn to rely upon the charity of one another.

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Image credits: (1) Go Where I Send Thee, If I Walked With Jesus (2) Two Apostles, Peter Paul Reubens (3) Medium

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Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, 
accompanied by his disciples. 
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished. 
They said, “Where did this man get all this? 
What kind of wisdom has been given him? 
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! 
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? 
And are not his sisters here with us?” 
And they took offense at him. 
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.” 
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The Lord’s return to his hometown is drenched in irony and opposites. 

By now, the Lord has cast an unclean spirit out of a man a synagogue; healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law; cleansed a leper; and stilled the stormy seas of Galilee. 

Word of these things preceded him. So, one might logically imagine that when Jesus returned home, he’d receive a star’s welcome. But he receives the polar opposite. Jesus is not welcomed with open arms and amazement; rather, closed hearts and unbelief.

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Notice a few particular details Mark includes in this Gospel passage.

The villagers in Nazareth – totaling no more than a few hundred – ask the right questions about Jesus, only with the wrong attitude.

“Where did this man get all this? … What kind of wisdom has been given him? … What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary? … Are not his relatives here with us?”

These are the types of questions Mark wants the reader to ask. When done with the right attitude – with a heart disposed to finding the truth – then one would see that, yes, Jesus is human. He is from Nazareth.

But he is also divine, the Son of God, which has allowed him to perform such mighty deeds.

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Mark also describes the circle of rejection tightening around Jesus. As he enters his hometown, even the villagers, his relatives, and his own household question skeptically, “Who is this man?”

Such skepticism creates the greatest obstacle to the Lord’s ministry: unbelief. How ironic it is that such unbelief comes from those who knew him best.

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What are some of my own questions about Jesus? Or about my faith?

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While the practice of asking questions is a healthy thing – it’s a sign we’re actually thinking about our faith, trying to make it ever more relevant in our lives– we must always do so with a heart open to the truth. 

May the Lord be “amazed,” not by our lack of faith; rather, by the abundance of it.

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Image credits: (1) PCUSA Store (2) Pantocrator, St. Catherine’s Monastery (3) Trinity Church, South Bend

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Gospel: Mk. 5: 21-40

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side, 
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” 
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” 
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mark sandwiches two different stories of healing into this Gospel passage in order to represent all of humanity.

There’s Jairus’ daughter, who’s only twelve years old, and a woman who’s been hemorrhaging for the last twelve years.

The young girl represents every child who’s suffered, along with the pain of their parents. The older woman represents those who are aging, whose minds and bodies have grown weak under the slow pressure of time.

Two stories of suffering with varying degrees of faith.

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In the case of Jairus’ daughter, the crowds report to Jesus that she has died; there is nothing more that Jesus can do.

Meanwhile, the woman who’s been hemorrhaging for the last twelve years desperately touches the tassel of his cloak – and instantly, she’s healed.

This happens while the Lord is surrounded by a countless number of people – the sick, the sinful, and the sorrowful, all bumping into Jesus as he moves closer to Jairus’ home.

But this woman touches him in faith.

She needs neither Christ’s attention nor to touch his body; an anonymous brushing with the tassel of his cloak is enough. Suddenly, twelve years of misery are over.

Her faith made the Lord stop as he felt his healing power go out of him.

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As Christians, we’re in constant contact with Jesus. We listen to his Word, we receive Him in the Eucharist, we say his name in prayer.

But is it half-conscious contact like the crowds who bumped into Jesus on the way to Jairus’ home? Or do we touch him in faith like the woman who hemorrhaged for twelve years?

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“Daughter, your faith has saved you,” Jesus says to her.

May the Lord say the same of us, who for our own reasons reach for the tassel of his cloak.

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Image credits: (1) Driven Deep by Paul Moore, Facebook (2) Duc in Altum, Magdala (3) Pinterest