We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20). This is the theme Pope Francis has chosen for this year’s World Mission Sunday. Our experience of Christ and his love and mercy fails to have any meaning until we choose to share it with others. “Once we experience the power of God’s love, we cannot help but proclaim and share what we have seen and heard,” the pope wrote in his message for the Mission Sunday.
Today’s passage from Mark’s Gospel indicates the mission we are called upon to perform: “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”
The good news should be announced “to every creature.” The expression certainly means “every person,” but also contains an invitation to open the horizons and to contemplate salvation that extends to the whole universe.
St. Paul reiterated this mission in his letter that all creatures are waiting for the beneficial effects of salvation: “All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in the glory of the children of God. For even the created world will be freed from this fate of death” (Romans 8:19-21).
Salvation and condemnation depend on the acceptance or rejection of the message of the Gospel and baptism (v.16). In the second part of the passage (vs.17-18), Mark lists five signs through which the Risen Christ manifests his presence: “Those who have believed will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
The immediate impression of these very unusual wonders seems strange, difficult to see and extremely rare.
The extraordinary signs listed by Mark should be read and interpreted in the light of biblical symbolism. The prophets used these and other images to describe the messianic times and the new world.
It is enough to remember the famous prophecy: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will rest beside the kid. By the cobra’s den, the infant will play” (Isaiah 11:6-8). Isaiah did not intend to announce a phenomenal change of the aggressive and dangerous nature of animals.
He promised the end of the struggles and enmities that exist in the world. In the kingdom of God, there would be no place for hostility, rivalry, mutual aggression among people.
The concluding sentence of Mark’s Gospel: “… The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it” (v.20) testifies to the belief of the first disciples of not being alone, but always having the Lord Jesus next to them.
For your reflection:
World Mission Sunday brings us three points to reflect:
- Remember with gratitude all the missionaries for their commitment to the cause of the Gospel and pray for them.
- Join hands in support of the mission through prayers and material help.
- The Church reminds us: “You are a missionary.”
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
