Homily: Year C - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Mal 3:19-20a; Ps 98; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19

A few weeks ago, I came across one of Pope Leo’s homilies – actually, it was a homily he preached several years before he was elected pope. It was all about God’s call to evangelize the world, what the Church proclaims as its primary mission. I guess what he had to say made an impression, because as I began to prepare this homily, I was struck by something I read in today’s Gospel passage that reminded me of evangelization. Tucked away in that passage from Luke’s Gospel is one brief sentence from Jesus:

It will lead to your giving testimony.

What exactly does that mean? What will lead to this? Well, Jesus tells us.

The day will come, He warns, when your temple lies in ruins…when you are powerless, terrified, betrayed…when you’re tempted by lies and handed over by family and friends because of my name. Jesus echoes the prophets here, doesn’t he? We heard it in first reading from Malachi:

“For the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts.”

That’s pretty scary stuff…well it is if you think you’ll live long enough to see it. But I don’t worry too much about something I can’t predict…like the end of the world.

Of course, Jesus was also talking to the people of Jerusalem about a day a few decades later when the Romans would come in and destroy their city. 

But I also think Jesus is talking to us about another day, a day we all know is coming: the last day of our lives, of your life and my life. The day will come, Jesus says, when the only thing you have is your testimony. That’s right; the day will come when all we have left is our witness to Jesus Christ, to our Christian faith.

We Catholics aren’t used to giving public, personal testimony. It’s rare when someone calls on us to stand up and give witness to our faith. I suspect if I asked you to testify now, most of you would hide under the pews. 

Oh, we’ll testify about almost everything else. We’ll talk to anyone about our politics, our favorite team, the best restaurant, the traffic this time of year. And the older we get, the more we inflict our opinions on others.

Now, I’m not saying all these conversations and interactions are trivial. No, some are important.  But maybe in all the busy-ness of our interactions with others, we forget to make room for something else.

Somehow, our personal testimony rarely comes up in these conversations. We forget that Jesus calls us to testify, to witness to the truth.

How often do we witness to our faith? How often do we proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, the Son of God? And how often do we do it beyond the physical borders of this parish? The pope is right: evangelization is the Church’s primary mission, and we, sisters and brothers…we are the Church.

Jesus reminds us that our work is God’s work, and in this work, He’s creating something powerful, even amid all the chaos we see around us today. He calls us to newness. He reminds us that old ways fall, so something new can arise.

It will lead to your giving testimony.

That’s a prophecy, isn’t it? But it’s also a kind of promise: It will lead to your giving testimony.

Are we ready to do that? A lot of people say, “My faith is something private. I see no reason to broadcast it to the world.” I suppose for them, testimony is something they read in a book or hear from the ambo on Sunday. It’s certainly not something they share on Saturday afternoon at Home Depot, or on Monday morning at aerobics. Anyway, isn’t that why we have bishops, priests, deacons, and all those parish ministries ? Isn’t that their job?

Do they think they’re not important enough, worthy enough, faithful enough for their stories to matter? Maybe they’re silent because they’re not glib or knowledgeable, or even very nice. Maybe they wonder what anyone could learn from their ordinary lives and garden variety sins.  

Yet, 2,000 years ago, Jesus looked at all of the flawed and fragile people around him — people just like us — and said,

“The time will come when you will lose everything, even your temple. You will be hated, handed over, perhaps even put to death, and yet it will lead to your giving testimony.”

Among that audience of early followers were prostitutes, and thieves, and beggars. There were self-righteous Pharisees, rich young men, and women whose lives scandalized the neighborhood. Some were wracked by illness, plagued by demons. Many were haunted by sins of the past. 

And then there's Jesus' friends, His apostles. James and John argued privilege and position; Peter denied Christ three times, Thomas demanded proof, and none truly understood him. None of them lived perfect lives, did they? And yet each of them testified.

Even if, like Peter, we sometimes deny the truth, we still have a truth to speak that the world needs to hear. Even if, like the woman who washed Jesus’ feet, we have a sinful past, you and I still have a message to share with a world of sinners. Even if, like Paul, we stir things up and irritate our friends, even if we’re burdened with a painful infirmity, even if we’ve been run out of town or imprisoned, we have something important to say about God…something so many need to hear.

I think of all those I’ve encountered during my many years of ministry as a deacon. 

An abused woman, searching for the strength to leave a violent relationship. She needs to know that God will sustain her, even when times seem hopeless and terror wears a familiar face.

The lonely -- and we're surrounded by so many lonely people here in The Villages -- caught in a web of grief and pain, they need to hear that God loves them, holds onto them, even in the midst of a fall.

A young father, or single mother, suddenly unemployed and struggling to feed a family, they need to know God is there, calling others to help.

The caregiver of a spouse, overcome by worry, needs the strength and hope that God offers in a world that is sometimes so exhausting.

Those suffering from illness or addiction need to understand that we are God’s beloved and that true healing comes only from Him.

Yes, brothers and sisters, we are God’s beloved; we each have a Gospel story to tell, a testimony that someone else desperately needs to hear. We are witnesses, people who have seen something — maybe something big, maybe we’ve come face-to-face with evil. Or something small, so small it seems unimportant, except to the one who’s searching.

Maybe our testimony can be found, not in words but in our stumbling and falling and finding the courage to try again, in letting others see us struggle to live our faith. Maybe our testimony can be found in the way we care for our families, the way we volunteer our time, the way we welcome a stranger. Maybe our lives, that seem so ordinary, are truly epic in nature, the stuff of legends, worthy of being told and retold, even if only a few listen.

Do we come of age as Christians before we’re willing to share our faith stories aloud, with someone else? We need to testify that we follow a mighty God, a living God, a loving God constantly working in our messy, imperfect lives.

Maybe today is a good time to start…to start with those closest to us: family, friends, grandchildren?

These little ones watch, you know. And they listen, and they imitate. How do we spend our time with them? What do we do and talk about together? Do we pray with them? Will they know they are made in God’s image and called to mirror His love? Will they know the evils surrounding them today will lead them away from God? Talk to our young ones about these things. Let them know what God desires for them, the greatness and the goodness to which God calls them.

This is where Jesus is, brothers and sisters. I love that scene at the beginning of Acts. Jesus had just ascended and the disciples are standing there staring up. Two angels appear and ask them:

“Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” (Acts 1:11)

Yes, brothers and sisters, don’t look for Jesus in the clouds. Look for Him where He already is. Look for Him right here in the community of His faithful gathered together. Here is the Body of Christ, His Church; and He is with us, for the Head cannot be separated from the Body. Look for Him is His Word, for the Word of God is Jesus Christ, just as present to us as if He were standing here in person. Look for Him in the Eucharist. He’s present there – really present in every way – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Look for Him at home in the faces of those you love, for He is in them too. And look for Him especially where He told us to look: the hungry and thirsty, the stranger, the sick, the imprisoned.

You see, Jesus has given us plenty to do before He returns in glory as Christ the King. As Christians, as members of the Body of Christ, we’re called to prepare the world for the Lord's return, but we must first prepare ourselves. And so, I suppose the question is: How ready are you and I to receive Him? Are we willing to give testimony? To tell and show others our faith, always with courage and love?

Each of us will have his or her own end of the world. That day, as we stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our judge, and say to Him, "Here I am, Lord. Do you like what you see?"  

What will be His response?

Homily: Wednesday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Dn 5:1-28; Dn 3; Luke 21.12-19

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If the gospel message is good news, then why do so many oppose it with hostility and even violence? Jesus warns us that we’ll be confronted with persecution, evil, false teaching, and temptation. And how does Jesus tell us to respond to all this? With love, with truth, with forgiveness.

Only God’s love can defeat bigotry, hatred and envy, and all that would divide and tear us apart. Only God’s truth can overcome the lies and confusion in the world; for that’s what the Gospel is, God's word of truth and salvation. Jesus, then, tells his disciples to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world, even in the midst of opposition and persecution.

If they persevere to the end they will gain their lives – they will see God's salvation.

Such endurance isn’t a product of human effort. It’s a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift strengthened by the hope that we’ll see God face to face and inherit His promises. Jesus, of course, is our model: He who endured the Cross for our sake and salvation; Jesus who calls us to love, to die to ourselves.

You know, the Greek root of the word martyr means witness? True martyrs live and die as witnesses to the Gospel, to Jesus. The Book of Revelations calls Jesus “the faithful witness ...who freed us from our sins by his blood." And Tertullian, a second century lawyer converted when he saw Christians singing as they went out to die at the hands of their persecutors. He compared the blood of the martyrs to “seed,” the seed of new Christians, the seed of the Church. St. Augustine spoke of this too: "The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, rent, butchered – and they multiplied!"

Christians multiplied because the martyrs witnessed to the truth, to the joy and freedom of the Gospel; and they did so through the testimony of their lives. They witness the truth: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”

 “God so loved the world…” He doesn’t love just part of it. No, He loves it all. He loves each one of us. It can’t be otherwise because He created each human being in an individual act of love. We must remember that Jesus died on the Cross for Jews and Gentiles, for Christians and Muslims, for Hindus and Buddhists, for agnostics and atheists.

By our witness as Christians, others will recognize Christ’s victory on the Cross, his power to overcome sin, fear, hatred, even death itself. When the world looks at us, it has the right to find in us a reflection of the glory of the Trinity. The world has a right to discover in our faith, hope, and love a testimony to the Holy Spirit’s presence.

The problems that have arisen in Christ’s Church over the centuries, and exist even now, are not caused by the Holy Spirit; they’re caused by the mediocrity of Christians, by our lukewarmness. As the great G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

What brings others to Jesus Christ and His Church is seeing Christians loving their enemies; seeing us joyful in suffering, patient in adversity, forgiving of injuries, and showing comfort and compassion to the hopeless and the helpless. 

This, brothers and sisters, is our calling.

Homily: Saturday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time (Year 1)

Readings: Dn 7:15-27; Dn 3; Luke 21:34-36

Here I am, only a couple of years from 80, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when anxiety and fear have filled the hearts of so many.

COVID has had its effect on a lot of folks, and yes, many in my age group have succumbed to the virus, but in truth most have survived. And yet, so many are overcome by fear. And now the world is panicking over a new variant out of Africa.

To add to our anxieties, we have obvious inflation and a rising cost of living. Then, as we look at our nation and the world, we see far too much division and hatred and threats. Yes, it seems to be a time of very fragile peace, a time of real uncertainty. And yet Jesus tells us, again and again, not to be afraid, but so many seem to ignore Him.

About 35 years ago, back when I was a business consultant, I used to travel a lot. One Sunday afternoon, driving my rental car through the hills of Arkansas, I heard a radio preacher tell his audience that we were only a few years, perhaps just months, from the tribulations and the Second Coming. As I recall, he was the minister of a Free Will Baptist Church. Let me paraphrase what he said that day:

“Jesus is coming, brothers and sisters. But first He’s gonna let the earth be scoured by Satan and his minions. Don’t you be afraid of them. Put away all those fears and get ready for Jesus. He’s coming soon, real soon, and you’d better stop all that sinning. If you don’t call on the Lord and repent, you just won’t be strong enough.”

I have to admit, I loved it. Of course, Jesus hasn’t returned yet, so his timing was off, by how much nobody but God Himself knows. But the preacher’s message was actually pretty good and mirrors the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. How did Jesus put it?

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life...Be vigilant... Pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations" [Lk 21:34,36].

I’ll admit, many years ago, the first time I thought about those words, I had a hard time picturing those first-century Jews out carousing. In truth, though, I suppose they weren’t much different from us. Even The Villages has its share of carousing and drunkenness, and certainly its share of anxiety.

But we’re all disciples of our Lord, Jesus Christ, so we must allow Him to take away our fears. After all, the Gospel is the Good News, the promise of an eternal life beyond anything we can imagine.

If the gospel message is good news, then why do so many oppose it with hostility and even violence? Jesus warns us that we’ll be confronted with persecution, evil, false teaching, and temptation. But how does He tell us to respond to all this? With love, with truth, with forgiveness.

Only His Way, His Way of peace, His way of love, can defeat bigotry, hatred, and envy, and all that would divide and tear us apart.

Only God’s truth, His revealed Word, can overcome the lies and confusion in the world.

And only God’s gift of life, eternal life, can carry us to the salvation He promises.

Only Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life can dissolve all those fears that plague so many today.

I don’t know if you and I will see those tribulations… probably not. But we are still called to proclaim the Gospel wherever God has placed us – called to be to be witnesses.

Did you know the Greek root of the word martyr means witness? The Book of Revelations calls Jesus “the faithful witness ...who freed us from our sins by his blood" [Rev 1:5]. 

St. Augustine spoke of this too: "The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, rent, butchered – and they multiplied!" Christians multiplied because the martyrs witnessed to the truth, to the joy and freedom of the Gospel; and they did so through the testimony of their lives.

So maybe, instead of fearing the world and its evils, we should just be joyful that we have heard the Good News, received the gift of faith, and are called to share it all with others. What brings others to Jesus Christ and His Church is seeing Christians loving their enemies; seeing us joyful in suffering, patient in adversity, forgiving of injuries, and showing comfort and compassion to the hopeless and the helpless.

This, brothers and sisters, is our calling.

Homily: Wednesday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Rev 15:1-4; Ps 98; Luke 21.12-19

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If the gospel message is good news, why then do so many oppose it with hostility and even violence? Jesus, of course, predicted this. He warned us that we'll be confronted with persecution, evil, false teaching, and temptation.

But the Gospel's real enemy is Satan - the one Jesus calls a "murderer" and "father of lies" [Jn 8:44].

Earlier this week, as hospital chaplain, I was visiting the room of a man suffering from a heart ailment. He told me he was no longer a practicing Catholic, having decided to leave the Church the same day he left the Marist Brothers novitiate 50 years ago.

He said he believed in God, loved Jesus, but didn't accept the existence of evil, and he particularly didn't believe in Satan. All the bad things people did were simply the result of selfishness, mental illness, and other psychological disorders.

We had an interesting conversation, and while I don't think I changed his mind, he said he might stop by our church some Sunday and give it a try.

Of course, he's wrong about Satan. Satan's not some psychological construct; no, Satan is very real, and he uses fear and hatred to encourage the persecution of those who follow Jesus Christ.

How did Jesus respond to all this? With love and truth, with forgiveness and mercy.

Only God's love can defeat bigotry, hatred and envy...for only God's love purifies our hearts and minds of all that would tear us apart.

Because Satan deceives and sin blinds the heart and mind, God's truth is also essential. Only God's truth can overcome the evil and tribulation in the world. Only God's truth can free us from error and spiritual blindness. The Truth. That's what the Gospel is, brothers and sisters, God's word of truth and salvation.

That's why Jesus tells his disciples to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world [Mt 28:19], even in the midst of opposition and persecution [Lk 21:12,16-17]. And He promises his disciples that if they endure to the end they will gain their lives [Lk 21:19]. They will see God's salvation and inherit eternal life and happiness with God.

But such endurance, such perseverance - the ability to remain faithful in the midst of trails, temptations, and persecution - doesn't come from human effort. No, it is a gift, a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift strengthened by hope: the assurance that we'll see God face to face and inherit His promises. As in all things, we turn to Jesus as our model: Jesus who endured the cross for our sake and salvation; Jesus who in turn calls us to love and to die to ourselves.

Do you know the word martyr in Greek means witness? That's right, true martyrs live and die as witnesses to the Gospel. John in The Book of Revelation calls Jesus "the faithful witness...who freed us from our sins by his blood" [Rev 1:5].

Tertullian, a second century lawyer converted when he saw Christians singing as they went out to die at the hands of their persecutors. He compared the blood of the martyrs to seed, the seed of new Christians, the seed of the church.

St. Augustine spoke of this too: "The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, rent, butchered - and they multiplied!" They multiplied because Christian martyrs witnessed to the truth; they witnessed to the joy and freedom of the Gospel; and they did so through the testimony of their lives and their deaths.

A few years ago, while on a cruise ship, Diane and I met a couple at dinner. The man, born and raised just down the road in Bushnell, is now a professor at the University of Florida.

He told us that being a Catholic in Bushnell was a real challenge back then. In fact as a boy he was regularly beaten up after school, just because he was Catholic.

Years later a man approached him and said that he remembered seeing him accept those beatings peacefully, without fighting back. He'd been very moved by this. Even though he'd gone on to become a Baptist minister, his memory of our friend's witness caused him to look into the Catholic Church. He'd since converted and wanted our new friend to know it.

What attracts others to the truth and power of the gospel? Seeing Christians loving their enemies; seeing Christians joyful in suffering, patient in adversity, forgiving of injuries, and showing comfort and compassion to the hopeless and the helpless. 

True witnesses pray for their persecutors and love their enemies. In their suffering they witness the truth of the gospel.

Jesus died for us all, gave His life on the cross for Jews and Christians and Muslims, for Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, agnostics and atheists. Yes, indeed, "For God so loved the world..." [Jn 3:16] God doesn't love just part of the world. He loves it all. After all, He created the world and it was good. And He loves each of us. It can't be otherwise because He created each human being in an individual act of love.

For God so Loved the World...

Satan, on the other hand, hates us all. He seeks to destroy our faith through the fear of death and he incites others to persecute Christians for their faith in Christ.

The martyrs witness to the truth - the truth of Jesus Christ and his power to overcome sin and fear, hatred and bigotry, and even death itself.

Most of us are called simply to bear witness to the joy and power of the gospel whatever the challenges, temptations, and adversities we encounter as we follow the Lord Jesus.

But by persevering we are all witnesses; we are all martyrs for Christ.

Homily: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Readings: Zec 12:10-11;13:1 ;Ps 63; Gal 3:26-29; Lk 9:18-24
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Have you noticed, Jesus asked a lot of questions? Now, when you and I ask a question, we’re usually looking for an answer. We want to know something we didn’t know before. But Jesus asked questions not to inform Himself, but to inform the person being questioned.

Remember that remarkable scene when the friends of a paralytic lowered him through the roof, hoping Jesus would heal him [Mk 2:1-12]. Jesus responds by saying,  

“Child, your sins are forgiven” [Mk 2:5].

Now this really bothered a group of scribes who witnessed the scene and they whispered among themselves, accusing Jesus of blasphemy. So He simply asked them:

“Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? [Mk 2:8]

Jesus knew the answer, but He wanted the scribes to think about what they were doing, to examine their own consciences.

And then there’s that scene in John’s Gospel when almost all of His disciples left Him because they couldn’t accept His teaching on the Eucharist [Jn 6:60-71]. Jesus turned to the Apostles and asked,

“Do you also want to leave?” [Jn 6:67]

Peter responded, and with a question of his own:

“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" [Jn 6:68].

Yes, Jesus asked a lot of questions, and in today’s passage from Luke, He did it again.

The brief dialogue with the apostles took place at Caesarea Philippi – which was a very pagan place. Nearby were temples devoted to the Syrian god, Baal, and to the Greek god, Pan, the god of the wild, of desolate places. And Herod’s son, Phillip the Tetrarch, built a temple there celebrating the divinity of the Roman emperor, Augustus…hence the name, Caesarea Philippi – Caesar and Philip.

Ruins of Pagan Shrine: Caesarea Philippi

And so, in this pagan setting, surrounded by false gods made by men in their own image and likeness, Jesus confronted the twelve and asked them:

“Who do the crowds say that I am?” [Lk 9:18]

Such a simple, non-threatening question – just tell me what folks are saying. Take a poll, sample public opinion, try a focus group, let me know what the man or woman in the street thinks about me. Today he probably would have said, “Have you Googled my name? What popped up?”

Oh, yes, a lot popped up…lots of things.  And so they told Him. After all, they had no stake in it. They were only passing along the opinions of others. Jesus, of course, knew the answer, for He too had heard the crowds. He knew full well what the people said about Him: He is a prophet, John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah, returned from the dead. And this is exactly what the Apostles told Him.

But, again, Jesus didn’t ask the question to hear what He already knew. No, He wanted the Apostles to question themselves, because their answer would determine their future. Once they came to a firm understanding of Jesus’ real identity, and once they accept the truth of that answer, their lives will change forever. And so Jesus led them into the future and asked them:

“But who do you say that I am?” [Lk 9:20]

Again Peter showed the way. Peter, the de facto leader of the twelve, the boaster who hid his weakness behind a façade of bluster, the disciple who would shed tears of shame in the face of his threefold denial – yes, it’s this Peter who answered by saying:

“The Christ of God” [Lk 9:20].

In Matthew’s Gospel his words are more expressive:

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” [Mt 16:16].

Yes, the Holy Spirit speaks through Peter: You are the promised One, the One sent by God. This is tacitly confirmed by Jesus when He told them to keep quiet about it.

Jesus with Peter and the Apostles at Caesarea Philippi

But then He went on to tell them what would happen to Him: He, the long-awaited Messiah, would be rejected by those who await Him. The One sent by God would suffer greatly and be killed. As Zechariah prophesied in our first reading:

"...they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him” [Zec 12:10].

But He also gave them a glimpse of hope: on the third day He would be raised. Of course the disciples understood nothing of this. The very thought of a murdered Messiah simply didn’t compute.

But there’s more…because discipleship has consequences. Jesus led them into their own future, for they must follow Him, take the same path, a path that leads to the Cross. It’s here He introduces the great paradox of Christian life: that we will save our lives, only if we’re willing to risk losing our lives. And if we do, God will raise us just as He raised up His Son on the third day.

Jesus wasn’t looking for a quick one-liner answer to His question. He was looking for an answer that lasts a lifetime. It wasn’t a question just for those first disciples, for Peter and that small band of followers; for Jesus turns to us as well…to you and to me.

You there! Yes, you! "Who do you say that I am?"

Deep down we all know what He means, don’t we? Do I really have to take up those crosses – those hardships, those sorrows, those personal calamities, those people that conspire to make my life so difficult?

Yes, Jesus replies, if you would be my disciple. As Paul reminded us:

"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” [Gal 3:27]

To be “clothed in Christ” is to accept the cost of discipleship, to accept His invitation to love, to love as Jesus loved when He took up His cross. This is what it means to be a cross-bearer who walks alongside Our Lord.

And so He continues to question us, “Who do you say that I am?”

The question just hangs in the air, doesn’t it? It won’t go away, brothers and sisters. We can try to ignore it, drown it out with the sounds of our lives…but it remains, waiting for an answer. Jesus doesn’t want opinions. He wants an answer:

“Who do you say that I am?”

There comes a time when we must answer this question, when, like Peter, we must make our own confession. You see, brothers and sisters, we are called to witness. We are called to spread the word about the Word…to let the world know our answer. And along with that answer comes a promise, the promise of eternal life beyond our imagining.

Jesus is here with us right now, present in this gathering as he always is — the walking, talking, living presence of God in our lives. We have already listened to Him as He spoke to us through His Word, and in a few moments, He’ll be present on this Altar. When we join together and process to communion, when we extend our hands, when we eat and drink, will we be able to give him our final answer?

No opinions, dear friends, just the testimony of our lives, just being the witness Jesus Christ calls each of us to be…as He asks us:

“Who do you say that I am?

Homily: Saturday, Octave of Easter

Readings: Acts 4:13-21; Ps 118; Mk 16:9-15
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Today, as we approach the end of the Easter Octave, our eight-day celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, we find in it the perfect sign of hope. The Resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love. Really, could God provide us with any better guarantee of what He has in store for us?

What I have done for My Son, I will do also for you. As My Son is now with me in glory, so too will you come and dwell with us in eternal happiness. You need only do what the Son asks of you: “Repent and believe in the Gospel” [Mk 1:15].

These words – “Repent and believe in the Gospel” – are among the first words of Jesus we encounter in Mark’s Gospel. As a writer, Mark didn’t elaborate a lot, but just gave us the bare-bones facts. Indeed, he begins his Gospel with another matter-of-fact statement: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” [Mk 1:1]

No theological subtleties there. No, Mark gets right to the point of it all: Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of God. It’s as if Mark is telling his reader: Just keep that in mind as you read this Gospel and all will become clear.

The passage from today’s Gospel reading is no different and includes some of the final verses of Mark’s Gospel. The last verse of this passage is equally straightforward, with the risen Jesus telling His small band of eleven apostles: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” [Mk 16:15]. No exclusions, no dispensations, no excuses. You and all those who follow you – and, that, brothers and sisters, includes you and me – must proclaim the Gospel always and to everyone.

"Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel..."

And, remember, these 11 apostles weren’t the most faithful of disciples; and the death of Jesus had pretty much dissolved what little faith they had. They certainly didn’t expect a resurrected Jesus. After all, they believe neither Mary Magdalene nor the two disciples who had encountered our Lord on the road to Emmaus. No, it took Jesus Himself to convince them; and even then they were filled with doubts. It was so bad that Jesus, when He appeared to them, actually chewed them out “for their unbelief and hardness of heart” [Mk 16:14].

But, wasting no time, Jesus continued and gave them that final command, His great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all the world. Matthew, in his Gospel, adds a bit more: “Go therefore,” Jesus commands, “and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” [Mt 28:19-20]

But regardless of the version, it’s kind of a scary command, isn’t it? After all, how much Gospel proclaiming have you and I done this week…this month…this year? I suspect it was scary too for the disciples who actually heard Jesus say it. If His Resurrection were unexpected, then this command was even more so.

“It is impossible for us not to speak..."

But then everything changes! We encounter the power of the Holy Spirit, and we see how, in an instant, He can change minds and hearts. His power is manifested in the remarkable witness of the Apostles in today’s reading from Acts. Peter and John, these fishermen, these “uneducated, ordinary men” [Acts 4:13], were doing miraculous things in Jesus’ name while proclaiming the Gospel throughout Jerusalem. They did so because, in their words, “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” [Acts 4:20].

And so, if you’re a little behind in your Gospel proclaiming, recall again those first words of Jesus: “Repent and believe in the Gospel” -- for they are the key. Immerse yourself in the sacrament of Reconciliation; in repentance let the Holy Spirit shower you with His grace. Open yourself up to Him in prayer. Ask Him to guide you, to help you proclaim the Gospel by living the Gospel, so you, too, will be a witness to the Good News of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.