Reflection for Sunday July 14, 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:

What were the apostles thinking when they were sent to their mission by Jesus without bringing any provisions? Perhaps they were worried, so questions arose like, "What are we going to eat?" and "Would we be able to survive this difficult mission?" But eventually their questioning minds were overwhelmed by their faith and trust in Jesus. And so, they move ahead and became successful missioners of Jesus.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how God will sustain us or how we can survive the difficulties of life, until we learn to hold on to our faith and give our full trust and confidence to the almighty hand of Jesus. Many of us fail in our endeavors because we lack faith and trust in the Lord. Instead of trusting the Lord, we rely on ourselves. So we fail, and the main culprit is our feeble faith.

Trust and faith were the two main ingredients that made the twelve apostles successful in their mission. Trust and faith in Jesus must also be our guiding light as we move on to do our mission for Christ, or as we move on to live our life for Jesus.

Let us not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the challenges that may confront us, no matter how difficult. Why? Because the Lord will always be with us to help us as we help Him advance His teachings.

In hindsight, has God forsaken anyone who helped Him spread His teachings? – Marino J. Dasmarinas