For a collective examination of conscience

Jesus does not send his disciples in just any manner. In order to work with him on his project of God’s kingdom and prolong his mission, they need to maintain a certain lifestyle. Otherwise, they may do many things, but they will not bring his spirit into the world. Mark reminds us of some of Jesus’ recommendations.  We highlight a few.

In the first place, who are they to act in Jesus’ name? What is their authority? According to Mark, when Jesus sends them, he gives them authority over unclean spirits. He does not give them power over the people they will meet on the road. Nor has he used his power to govern, but rather to heal.

As always, Jesus is thinking of a more wholesome world, one that is freed from the enslaving and dehumanizing forces of evil. His disciples will introduce among the people his healing power. They will make inroads in society, not by exerting power over people, but by humanizing life, alleviating people’s suffering, and making freedom and solidarity grow.

They will only take with them a walking stick and sandals. Jesus imagines them walking, never settled down, always on the road, not attached to anything and anyone. They will possess only the bare essentials and will have Jesus’ agility that makes him present where someone needs him. Jesus’ stick is not for commanding, but for walking.

They are to take neither bread, nor sack, nor money. They must not live obsessed with their own security. They carry with them something more important: Jesus’ Spirit, his Word and his Authority to humanize people’s lives. Oddly, Jesus is not thinking of what they have to take in order to be effective, but about what they do not have to take, lest they forget the poor one day and spend their lives looking out only for their own interests.

Nor will they carry a second tunic. They will live as simply as the poor do. They will not wear sacred vestments like the Temple priests. Nor will they dress like the Baptist in the solitude of the desert. They will be prophets in the midst of the people. Their life will be a sign of God’s closeness to everyone, to those most in need above all.

Will we dare someday to make, within the depths of the Church’ heart, a collective examination of conscience so as to let ourselves be enlightened by Jesus and to see how we have kept drifting away from his Spirit, almost without realizing it?

July 12, 2015
15 Ordinary Time (B)
Mark 6, 7-13