Go! Cry the Gospel with your Life
Piety
Beloved: Clothe
yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: “God opposes
the proud but bestows favor on the humble.” So, humble yourselves under the
mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries
upon him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:5B-7
Jesus appeared to the
Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to
every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does
not believe will be condemned.
Mark 16:15-16
Study
Easter is such a grand
celebration that it lasts for a full 50 days until Pentecost. The liturgical
color is pure white for all 50 days – except for two Feasts that reoccur during
the Easter season. One is the feast of St. Matthias on May 14, and the other is
today, the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist.
Today is not a pause in
the Easter “sea-of-white” season as it is a look back AND a look ahead. Today’s
Good News connects seamlessly and continues the message from Saturday in the Octave
of Easter. It also alludes to the message that is delivered right before the
Ascension. The Feast of St. Mark brings us to the welcome mat of Pentecost. Then,
we get the next chapter -- the “descent” (appearance) of the Holy Spirit to
gift and strengthen us for the road and mission and trials that await the lives
of the first disciples and us.
Of all the minor
commandments that Moses did not chisel into stone tablets, today’s commandment
is the shortest. “Go!”
Action
Go! Don’t stand here at the
foot of the cross on Good Friday.
Go! Do not hide out in
the empty tomb on Easter Sunday.
Go! Don’t lock yourself
in the Upper Room.
Go! Don’t stand here at
the ground, looking up to see where Jesus is.
You will NOT find Jesus
in any of these places any longer. Jesus (in physical body form) departed the
world. He also left the world…to us. His final gift becomes linked to his final
command. The world is in our out-stretched hands now. His mission is over. His
mission is our mission now. The coronavirus-infected, hunger-filled, media-distracted,
economically unemployed, depressed, recessed, un-confessed world is in our
hands now. That was, is and ever shall be Jesus' Last Will and Testament.
“What are you gonna’ do
about it?”
Perhaps we should (as
St. Francis said) “Preach the Gospel with our lives. If we need to use words.”
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