Reflection for Sunday July 11, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 6:7-13

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.

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Reflection:

The story is told about a newly ordained priest who was so idealistic that he wished to be assigned in the farthest and un-evangelized place. He got what he wished for. During the time that he was about to go there he brought nothing with him except for the clothes and his priestly things. 

He said to himself: “I will not bring anything with me because Jesus had said that in going to your mission do not bring anything with you (Mark 6:8). He believed that God would provide for his needs. He eventually reached his place of assignment and his parishioners were sensitive enough to notice his needs so they provided him with what he needed. 

In the gospel, Jesus demanded trust from the apostles. He wanted them to trust him as they go about their mission for He would provide for their needs. Jesus said to them: “Bring nothing with you except your walking stick and sandal (Mark 6:8-9). In saying this Jesus wanted them to depend on Him and not on themselves. 

Due to the modernity of our times trust or faith in God is a word that is somewhat lacking in our lives today. Because we tend to trust more on ourselves rather than God. We long for our smart phones more rather than long for God. We check on our smart phones first upon waking up in the moring rather than check on God by way of our prayers.  It seems that it’s very hard to live now without smart phones and other gadgets but so easy to live without God.

Sad that this is happening but this is the reality of our gadgets driven times. But there’s hope for as long as we don’t give up on our mission to evangelize. Let us not lose heart because the Lord is always there for us. He only asks us one thing and that is to never give up on our mission of evangelization and to continue to trust Him. – Marino J. Dasmarinas