Jesus Gave Them Authority over Sickness and Unclean Spirits
May you continue to respond to GOD’s call and seek to do what GOD is asking you to do so that the Good News can be proclaimed to others.
Part of GOD’s plan for salvation is to call individuals to be spokespersons for GOD and to send them out on a divine mission. Amos, a prophet, is sent to challenge the wealthy and sinful. The psalm describes the benefits of GOD’s plan being announced: mercy, peace, justice, and forgiveness. St. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with a berakah – a prayer of blessing and praise of GOD. In the Gospel, Jesus sends His disciples on a missionary activity.
First Reading Amos 7:12-15; 'Go, shepherd, and prophesy to my people Israel'
Commentary: Amos had a tricky task on his hands. He was sent unwillingly by God from the neighbouring kingdom of Judah to tell their bitter rivals in Israel to change their ways, to stop exploiting the poor and the weak, and to bring sacrifices that were a real expression of homage to God who champions the needy and the powerless. No surprise that he was booted out of the national shrine and told to shove off home and mind his own business. We don’t like prophets who try to shake us out of our comfortable ways, pointing out our inadequacies, and challenging us to be true to God’s plans for us. In vain Amos insisted that he was not a professional troublemaker, that all he had wanted was a quiet life looking after his flocks and herds and sycamore trees. And then the Lord had insisted on giving him this special task. The exciting thing about being a Christian is that we never know when we will be called by the Lord to do some special tasks, great or small – even if it is only welcoming the unexpected and tiresome visitor and remembering that he or she is in the place of Christ.
Responsorial Psalm 85:9-14; Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your saving help.
The psalmist relates what happens when GOD’s message is faithfully proclaimed. GOD is glorified and GOD’s chosen people receive the blessings of salvation, including truth, kindness, mercy, peace, and justice. GOD extends divine favors to those who are called and who respond to the divine call.
Second Reading, Ephesians 1:3-14; God chose us in Christ before the world was made
Commentary: Many think that St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written not by Paul himself, but by a follower steeped in Paul’s thought. Gone are the old problems of Jew and gentile. Reflections are on a cosmic scale, and Christ is evaluated in terms of the cosmic powers. The letter is quite different in style and develops many of Paul’s ideas. Perhaps it is the first commentary on Paul.
The sevenfold blessing with which it begins sums up God’s plan of salvation for humanity. The climax is in the centre, ‘to bring everything under Christ as head’. Christ is the Wisdom of God, the plan according to which and through which all things were created. Christ is also the completion of the creation, and the unity of all things in Christ is a special emphasis of the letter. All things are under Christ as head of creation, all nourishment for creation, and all guidance of creation. These are the functions that a head performs for a body, which Christ performs for creation.
Gospel Mark 6:7-13, 'Take nothing with you'
Commentary: The instructions for missioners are shaped by the urgency of the Kingdom. They are to travel light for speed. They should wear sandals rather than go barefoot, also for speed and security. They are to rely for their provisions on the welcome they receive, and if they are unwelcome, they should not waste time on those who reject them. Did Jesus think that the Kingdom or Kingship of God would finally burst on the world in his own time, that there was so little time to spare? In one way it did – at his death and Resurrection, which fulfilled God’s plan and restored us to friendship with God. In another way it is still in the future: the reign of peace and justice is not yet established. There is still sorrow, distress, enmity, fraud, jealousy, and plenty of other evils that fracture God’s Kingship. We are still imperfect reflections of the light of Christ, still pilgrim members of a pilgrim Church. Our efforts are feeble, even in Christ’s footsteps. We cannot sit back complacently, any more than the missioners of Jesus’ own time, and the task of establishing the Kingdom is still imminent.
Reflection: What kind of authority and power does the Lord want you to exercise on his behalf? Jesus gave his apostles both the power and the authority to speak and to act in his name. He commanded them to do the works which he did - to heal the sick. to cast out evil spirits, and to speak the word of God - the good news of the gospel which they received from Jesus. When Jesus spoke of power and authority he did something unheard of. He wedded power and authority with self-sacrificing love and humility. The "world" and the "flesh" seek power for selfish gain. Jesus teaches us to use it for the good of our neighbor.
Why does Jesus tell the apostles to "travel light" with little or no provision? "Poverty of spirit" frees us from greed and preoccupation with our possessions and makes ample room for God's provision. The Lord wants his disciples to be dependent on him and not on themselves. He wills to work in and through each of us for his glory. Are you ready to use the spiritual authority and power which God wishes you to exercise on his behalf? The Lord entrusts us with his gifts and talents. Are you eager to place yourself at his service, to do whatever he bids you, and to witness his truth and saving power to whomever he sends you?
Lord Jesus, make me a channel of your healing power and merciful love so that others may find abundant life and freedom in you. Free me from all other attachments that I may joyfully pursue the treasure of your heavenly kingdom. May I witness the joy of the Gospel both in word and deed.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Jesus gives them the power to heal and cast out evil spirits, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"The grace bestowed upon the holy apostles is worthy of all admiration. But the bountifulness of the Giver surpasses all praise and admiration. He gives them, as I said, his own glory. They receive authority over the evil spirits. They reduce to nothing the pride of the devil that was so highly exalted and arrogant. They render ineffectual the demon's wickedness. By the might and efficacy of the Holy Spirit, burning them as if they were on fire, they make the devil come forth with groans and weeping from those whom he had possessed...
"He glorified his disciples, therefore, by giving them authority and power over the evil spirits and over sicknesses. Did he honor them without reason and make them famous without any logical cause? How can this be true? It was necessary, most necessary, that they should be able to work miracles, having been publicly appointed ministers of sacred proclamations. Using their works, they then could convince men that they were the ministers of God and mediators of all beneath the heaven. The apostles then could invite them all to reconciliation and justification by faith and point out the way of salvation and of life that is this justification." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 47)
“OH, NOTHING”: “He instructed them to take nothing.” —Mark 6:8. In our culture, we say: “Ready; get set; go.” Jesus says something different: “Ready; don’t be ‘set upon the things of this world’ (Phil 3:19), and go.” To get ready to go for Jesus doesn’t mean that we pack our bags; rather, it means that we get rid of our baggage. Jesus “instructed them to take nothing on their journey but a walking stick — no food, no traveling bag, not a coin in the purses in their belts” (Mk 6:8).
Jesus practiced what He preached. He went out with nothing. When God became a man, He emptied Himself (Phil 2:7). When He was born, there was no room for Him except in a stable (Lk 2:7). When Jesus did His public ministry, He had nowhere to lay His head (Lk 9:58).
How does this apply to us? For example, if you have three children, the Lord does not want you to be homeless, penniless, and without food and clothes. However, He does want you to go on a mission for Him, and he wants you to go in the simplicity, austerity, and poverty appropriate to having been crucified to the world (Gal 6:14). Today’s Gospel reading applies to all of us. In love, truth, and freedom, apply it.
Prayer: Father, may I let You free me. “You were sealed with the Holy Spirit Who had been promised. He is the Pledge of our inheritance, the first Payment against the full redemption of a people God has made His own, to praise His glory.” —Eph 1:13-14. “Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens!” (Eph 1:3)
The personal action for today: How have I experienced a “calling” from GOD? How am I responding to the vocation and election I have received from the Lord Jesus? How much time do I spend being at the feet of the Master Teacher, listening to Him and reading His Word? At this point in my life, to whom am I being sent as a missionary of Jesus? What actions can I perform to enable others to know the Good News that I have experienced?