REFLECTIONS TODAY
Jesus is the one sent by God to preach the Good News and to have authority over demons. The intimate association of the Twelve with Jesus is what authorizes them to do what he does. Jesus sends them to act as his “ambassadors.” He who receives them receives Jesus himself and will be rewarded. But those who refuse them refuse Jesus, and this refusal will be held against them. The Twelve are to give people warning by shaking the dust off their feet. This gesture comes from the belief that Israel was God’s “holy land.” Returning from the impure pagan lands that surrounded Israel, travelers would shake the dust from their feet so as not to contaminate the holiness of the land they were entering. This means that those who would not receive the missionaries or would not hear the proclamation of the Gospel would be judged as “godless” even if still living in the territory of Israel.
In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were told to wash their hands to avoid contamination. What do you do to avoid contaminating what is clean and holy?
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.
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.