SHALOM
Mk 6:7‐13
In the previous Gospel account, we hear about the rejection of Jesus by the people of Nazareth, the place where He grew up. Being rejected by His own people is very painful to the Lord. But this is just a prelude to the forthcoming definitive rejection that is going to culminate on the cross. However, Jesus cannot be discouraged in the fulfillment of His mission. He quickly moves forward. So, He leaves Nazareth and goes around the neighboring villages. Then, along the way, He calls other persons to join Him in His mission: “He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.”
Before sending His disciples to their mission, Jesus gives several important instructions. First, they are to go out in pairs. This reminds them that the work of the mission for the building of God’s kingdom is not an individual, but a communitarian effort. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). It also ensures mutual support in the ministry and adds credibility to their testimony. Second, they are to travel light, taking nothing with them in their journey: no food, no sack, no money in their belts and no second tunic. However, they can wear sandals and have a walking stick: these are necessary in any journey on foot. This instruction is a challenge for them to trust, first, in God’s providence, and second, in the hospitality and generosity of the people they serve. In addition, this gives them total freedom in the conduct of their mission.
Third, they are to stay in the first house that takes them in: “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.” They should live together in a stable way and not go from house to house, looking for convenience and better accommodation. They should work like everybody else and live from what they received in exchange, “because the laborer deserves his wages” (Lk 10: 7). In other words, they should participate in the life and in the work of the people, and not act like entitled visitors. Along this line, they should eat what people have or what the people give them. In this they are different from the missionaries of other groups at that time, like the Pharisees and the Essenes, who carry their traveling bag and money to take care of their own meals (cf. Mt 23: 15). This is because they just cannot eat the food that people give them, for these may not always be ritually “pure”. On the other hand, the disciples of Jesus could not live separate from the people, providing their own food. Rather, they should even accept to sit at the same table (Lk 10: 8). There should be complete solidarity with the people, without prejudices and fear of losing their ‘purity’.
And finally, He warned them about the difficulty and hazards of the mission by showing them the certain possibility of being rejected on account of the message they proclaim: “Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” Before His ascension to the heavenly Father, the final words of Jesus to His disciples is a command: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). This is the same command given to us by virtue of the baptism we received. He sends us as His missionary disciples in the present world. May we faithfully and zealously accomplish our mission for the glory of God and the salvation of all souls.