23
Oct
Oct
Reflection: Mark 16:15-20
We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20). This is the theme Pope Francis has chosen for this year’s World Mission Sunday. Our experience of Christ and his love and mercy fails to have any meaning until we choose to share it with others. “Once we experience the power of God’s love, we cannot help but proclaim and share what we have seen and heard,” the pope wrote in his message for the Mission Sunday. Today’s passage from Mark’s Gospel indicates the mission we are called upon to perform: “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.” The good news should be announced, “to every creature.” It is the message of life and love. On this Mission Sunday, let us be reminded of our mission towards the universe – our common home. That is why Climate Action should be considered an integral part of our life as Christians. Destroying nature is a sin and caring for the nature is our mission. In the second part of the passage (vs. 17-18) Mark lists five signs through which the Risen Christ manifests his presence: “Those who have believed will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” These unusual wonders seems strange, difficult to see and extremely rare to happen. The prophets used these and such other images as symbolisms to describe the messianic times and the new world. We hear in the prophecy of Isaiah: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will rest beside the kid. By the cobra’s den, the infant will play” (Is 11:6-8). Isaiah did not intend to announce a phenomenal change of the aggressive and dangerous nature of animals. He promised the end of the struggles and enmities that exist in the world. In the kingdom of God, there would be no place for hostility, rivalry, mutual aggression among people. The concluding sentence of Mark’s Gospel: “… The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it” (v. 20) testifies to the belief of the first disciples of not being alone, but always having the Lord Jesus next to them. World Mission Sunday brings us three points to reflect: 1. Remember with gratitude all the missionaries of the past and the present for their commitment to the cause of the Gospel and pray for them. 2. Join hands in support of the mission through prayers and material help. 3. The Church reminds us: “You are a missionary.” October 24 is also the memoria of St. Antony Mary Claret, a man on fire with God’s love, dedicated his life to make the Gospel of Jesus proclaimed through all possible means. He founded the missionary congregation of the Sons of the Heart of Mary, who are also known as the Claretian Missionaries. On this Mission Sunday, join the efforts of the missionaries, and support the mission of proclaiming the Gospel.