Gospel Reading Mk16: 15-18: January 25, 2018
What!!??? You want me to Evangelize!!! I can’t do that!!!
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells his disciples’ to go out into the entire world and evangelize... to spread the gospel to every living creature! Those who believe and are baptized will be saved and those who do not believe will be condemned.
Wow! That is a huge weight on the apostle’s shoulders. They were charged with spreading the Gospel to the entire world, and …. Gosh! Most of the world had not even been discovered yet!
Can you imagine how the disciples felt when they heard this? Let’s take a quick look at what had happened within the week.
They watched their religious leaders condemn Jesus of blasphemy … against God!
They watched Jesus sent off to be scourged mercilessly by Pontius Pilot
They watched him paraded in front of their fellow Jews with a crown of thorns on his head.
They watched Jesus being forced to shoulder his own cross up to his execution!
They watched him laid out on the cross while spikes were driven into his hands and feet.
They watched him hanging on the cross and DIE
They saw him resurrected
And were just watching him making his ascent into heaven
That under normal circumstances would have scared most people away from being a Christian! Now as Jesus makes his ascent into heaven, his last words to them are now you must go out and save the world. WHAT!?
So, Jesus knew this was a hard task that he was laying on his disciples, but he didn’t intend to send them out unarmed! He told the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait.
Wait? Wait for what?
The “What” that Jesus was sending them out armed with, was the Holy Spirit!
When the time of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then appeared to them tongues of fire which parted and came to rest on each of them and they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Acts 2: 1-4 Amazing! God gave them just what they needed to fulfill their mission. Except, what about the salvation of the world part of the discussion? We know that the disciples evangelized in the Middle East and the areas of the world that were know… but how did they cover it all. With each conversion and baptism that occurred, they were sent off to continue the evangelization process.
This gets us to modern times! So, that same call that was placed upon the disciples is likewise our inheritance. We are called to live and evangelize the Gospel to the whole world as well until Jesus comes again at the end of time. Each one of us, through the sacraments, have received the Holy Spirit within us. The key is … how are you being called to evangelize? Are you listening to the voice that is calling to you? How do you fulfill your legacy during your life time…