REFLECTIONS TODAY

After being rejected by his townmates in Nazareth, Jesus goes to the nearby villages to teach. 

He then calls the Twelve (Apostles). He sends them to exorcise evil spirits, to preach repentance, and to heal the sick. 

They will replicate what he has been doing in Capernaum and in other places. 

How will they do it? In pairs. 

They will travel light. They will not carry anything except a walking stick and a pair of sandals. They can stay in a house where they are welcome. 

The Apostles must have been struggling, although this is the second time that they are sent (the first time being in Mk 3:14). 

They are not yet well-equipped. Their master has just been rejected. Will the same thing happen to them?

We, Christians, are baptized to share in the mission of Christ. We are expected to do the same: to drive away evil and negative energies, to lead people to repentance, and to restore them to health in mind and spirit. 

Expect to be rejected. But there will be surprises.
 

First Reading • 1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12 
 

When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon: “I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man. 

Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn, and the Lord may fulfill the promise he made on my behalf when he said, ‘If your sons so conduct themselves that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart and with their whole soul, you shall always have someone of your line on the throne of Israel.’” 
David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 

The length of David’s reign over Israel was 40 years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 

Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David, with his sovereignty firmly established.
 

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: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.