Today we hear about the first missionaries -- the twelve apostles. And there are several things to notice about this particular scene. First, this takes place relatively early in Jesus’ ministry. The apostles haven’t been with him that long. They’ve seen miracles and heard some of his message and gotten to know him as a person, at least a little bit. They know something is going on and they want to be part of it. But they are still disciples, still learning.
In medical education, and it’s probably true in other professions, you have to learn a lot of procedures. There is a saying, “see one, do one, teach one.” The way to learn a procedure is to see one being done, try it out yourself, then teach it to someone else. That last step sort of nails everything down, because you have to put in words what you have learned. Jesus is educating his disciples, and tells them to go out and do what they have been watching him do, and preach the same message he’s been preaching.
And Jesus says this is urgent, there is not time to waste. Don’t go home and pack a suitcase, don’t get some cash out of the ATM, just get moving. Wear sandals because you can move faster. Bring a staff because it helps if you get threatened by a wild animal. And you can almost hear the disciples -- Lord, we’ve got to eat, we’ve got to have a roof over our heads if the weather turns bad. And Jesus says, “Don’t worry, stay with whoever welcomes you and don’t waste any time with people who reject you. And Jesus, no stranger to human behavior, knows that things will be infinitely better if they go out in pairs, because then they give each other courage and remind each other of things forgotten.
And the disciples are to heal the sick, drive out demons, and preach repentance. And they do, and if we were to read further into the gospel of Mark, they come back to Jesus all excited because of what has happened. There are often earthly rewards for preaching the gospel.
But there’s that word, repentance. As you may know, the Greek word is “metanoia”, which doesn’t really mean being sorry for your sins. It means ‘change your mind, change the way you see things”. Because the driving out of demons and the curing of the sick are signs, signs that God is breaking into the world, and things will never be the same.
Jesus still sends out disciples today. And whether we like it or not, we are all being sent, to tell the world that God is with us, that Jesus Christ is God in human form, that he is the only way, the only truth, the only life.
Saint Francis took his words literally and today the Franciscan movement is world-wide, with several orders, both male and female. Mother Theresa heard his words and today there are almost 6000 women in her order, carrying out apostolic work and healing the sick. And we can point out many others who heard his words and did likewise. But sometimes these individuals seem exalted and hard to imitate. There are many people who fly under the radar in their role as disciples. I know married couples who married out of love for each other, sure, but embracing their role as creators of a family. Not just having more than the national average of children, but giving up a lot in order to form those children into believing, practicing Catholics. They are going out two by two to do the work of the Lord as well. I know of one such couple who, after raising their family, sold their home, took early retirement from their jobs, and set out to start a medical mission in a Mexican village. Their work lives on. Here in our parish we have disciples of Jesus teaching faith formation -- preaching repentance, if you will; or other disciples feeding the hungry -- healing the sick, as it were. And there are many other examples of people who know Jesus is sending them out.
And I think of one young woman who told me when she was a four year old that she was going to be a saint. Today she is giving two years of her life to work in an organization that gives retreats and organizes missions, directed mainly at young people. And I remember her telling me that she would sometimes sit on a park bench to read or pray, and sometimes someone would sit down and begin a conversation, and she would tell them about Jesus. She looked for opportunities to spread the gospel, to one person at a time, not being pushy, but making herself available. And sometimes miracles happen. Demons were driven out. I suspect she will realize her childhood ambition and be a saint.
How are you being sent out? And what more can you do to tell people that Jesus is with us and God is breaking into our world? There is nothing more important.
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