15th Sunday, Year B

The Gospels of this Sunday and next are dedicated to the mission that Jesus entrusts to the ‘Twelve’ in the course of His preaching. This sending out of the ‘Twelve’ is recorded, not just in Mark, which we have today (Mk 6: 7-13). It’s recorded in two other Gospels as well: Matthew (10:1-14) and Luke (9:1-6;10:4-11), and although they don’t totally agree on every detail, the important thing is to get hold of the central message— that is, as they went out on mission, the apostles were not to be embarrassed or encumbered by superfluous possessions. They were to travel like arrows with the message of the Lord. They were to have no tin cans clattering behind them on the road. They were to live their lives with the greatest simplicity. Pre-occupation with material things would inhibit their work and limit their freedom. This of course, can be true in our own lives too. 

This first mission entrusted to the Twelve by Jesus, discharged under his direct supervision, and whose smooth operation he himself verified, announces and prefigures those which, afterwards, will be conducted by a multitude of others, through apostolic succession, to announce the Gospel to the whole world and continuing the mandate given to the apostles at our Lord’s Ascension into heaven: ‘ Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey all the commands I gave you. And know that I m with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

Up to now, only Jesus has acted and taught. It is true that he has chosen Twelve disciples ‘that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons,’ ‘To proclaim the kingdom of God,’ and to continue his mission after he has returned to the Father. But for now he ‘began to send them out two by two’ to exercise the ministry he had told them about, the one he had been preparing them for. Was it not necessary for them to begin to ‘learn the job,’ as it were, by watching their master? Learning from him through his simple life of service, through the miracles he performed and the authority in his preaching. Was it not also necessary for them, to see him confronted with contestation, calumny, and even failure, so that they will know how to handle these situations when confronted with them themselves, as they inevitably will be as missionaries? Here today, his warnings and his instructions have a concrete basis in these experiences.

At the moment of their departure Jesus gives them precise instructions concerning the manner of living incumbent on missionaries of the Gospel and the way they must behave towards their hearers: and these instructions seem to have a certain urgency about their mission: ‘Travel light’ — ‘Stay in the same house’  ‘Move on from town to town.’ ‘Take no food, no money in their belts.’ They were however, to wear ‘sandals, but not a second tunic’ Nothing must encumber them, Such reduced equipment allows for a brisk pace and gives the missionaries the possibility of freely going from one place to another. ‘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.’ The zeal of the missionaries and their message is not guaranteed success everywhere and always, ‘For no slave is greater than his master. If they persecute me, they will persecute you also.’ Nevertheless, everybody (if possible) must hear the message.

This mission of the ‘Twelve’ was given to them directly by Jesus, He had been training them for this moment, he gives them ‘authority over unclean spirits’ and now sends them out to ‘preach’ and to ‘heal’ to ‘cast out those unclean spirits’ (whom they now have authority over), to ‘Proclaim the Kingdom of God.’ This was to be their lifelong mission after Jesus had returned to the Father; they were to be his hands, his feet, his mouth, and they in their turn, through apostolic succession, would pass it on through time to others — to you and to me.

Through our baptism, we belong to a Church sent to others, we are all constituted witnesses of Christ in our day-to-day work, our day to day lives. By nature, through our baptism we are called to be missionaries wherever we are, whatever we do. The question we must ask ourselves is: ‘What do we contribute to the mission of the Church — to Jesus’ mission?

Saint Therese of Lisieux said this: ‘If God doesn’t have your heart, he has nothing.’ Does he have our heart? We need to think about that. It could be that religion for us is trotting to Mass, rattling off a few prayers, blessing ourselves with holy water —surviving a ritual — rather than— a thriving love. Do we need to deepen our friendship with Our Lord; in prayer, in scripture, in Eucharist, in lifestyle. One thing is certain, we should always keep these thoughts in the forefront of our minds. We should love our God ‘With all our hearts, with all our strength, with all our minds’ and then we might be able to respond to our Lord’s command ‘To love our neighbour as ourselves.’

Let us reflect on what Saint Therese said often: ‘If God doesn’t have our heart, he has nothing.’

There is a clear message in today’s Gospels for the apostles; and since we are all 

apostles, the simplicity Our Lord required from the first ‘Twelve’ is required from us too. Our main concern as Christians, should not be material things, but the values of the Gospel. It’s one thing to enjoy the things of this world, it’s another to be enslaved by them. Humility and simple living will guarantee that the Lord’s message won’t be overshadowed by the things of this world. But what is simplicity of life?

Now simplicity doesn’t require us to be naive. It requires us to work hard, provide for our needs, care for our families, and yes, we should certainly try to contribute to the economic life of the Church and the community in which we live. But it also requires us to share with the hungry and the poor, to put their need before our own luxury. Simplicity then, I suppose is a certain detachment from our own needs and a sensitive attachment to the needs of others. Simplicity is a modest creature too; it recoils from the ‘big splash’, has no time whatsoever for ostentation or vulgar display. Christian simplicity is more concerned with values rather than possessions, with people rather than things, with reality within rather than the show without. ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice.’

Saint John Chrysostom said, ‘Riches are not forbidden, but pride of them is.’ There’s nothing wrong with having wealth, what we do with it is another matter. And this leads us to focus on our own mission. Most of us have to be apostles where we are; whether we’re rich or poor, young or old. We go on mission not necessarily by moving, but by being. We do it as parents or workers, or students, or neighbours. We don’t have to go abroad to be missionary people; Yes, a lot of good much needed work is done in other countries by others, and lot’s of sacrifices made, but whatever missionary work is done abroad by others is largely dependent on the missionary work that’s done at home, by us. Our missionary work very often supports their missionary work. We are Church. We are One Body.

Because we’re human, and because our faults and failings are especially evident to our family and our neighbours, not everything we do will necessarily have a missionary impact. While perfection may always elude us and though it should always be our aim, to be Christian in our commitment and ambition is always a witness to others, and with God’s help, by our example it may well lead them to the Lord.

The more we try to live by faith and love, the more missionary we become. The Gospel survives and is spread because it is lived and it is, we, who spread it by living it. All of us, to one degree or another are already doing this and doing it remarkably well. Let’s keep it up! But let’s also be challenged and encouraged by the themes in today’s Gospel—That ‘If God doesn’t have our heart, he has nothing’, simplicity is a steady hand. Our witness is important because we may be the nearest that some people will ever come to the Gospel. Let’s remember the Lord’s urgency — that every living being should have the opportunity to hear his message—time is short. Let’s give him our hearts and our service, let us be simple in our ways, and let us pray as struggling Christians do, constantly, for the gradual ascendancy of goodness ‘in our lives’ that we may approach the next life with confidence and hear Our Blessed Lord’s words:

‘Well done good and faithful servant’