Mark 6:7-13

Amos 7:12-15

Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14

Ephesians 1:3-14 or 1:3-10

Mark 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two

and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey

but a walking stick—

no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 

They were, however, to wear sandals

but not a second tunic. 

He said to them,

“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. 

Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,

leave there and shake the dust off your feet

in testimony against them.” 

So they went off and preached repentance. 

The Twelve drove out many demons,

and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you created human beings to share in your royal authority over all creation. Your Son granted authority to his apostles so that they could go out to bring all peoples into your new creation. I am a new creation through my Baptism and share in your Son’s passion, death, and resurrection.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus gave the Twelve authority: An apostle of Jesus has two major tasks. The first task is to be with Jesus. When we read Mark 6, we should remember that the Twelve have been with Jesus for some time. They have heard his message and preaching about repentance and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth. They have witnessed his mighty works and the display of his power over nature, demons, disease, and death. They have seen how some people welcome Jesus in faith, while others oppose him and even plot his death. They have truly been with Jesus. The second task of an apostle is to be sent out to do the works Jesus himself has done. In fact, the name “apostle” means “to be sent out.” “The initial phase of the training of the Twelve is now complete, and they are ready to participate actively in the mission of Jesus – to become fishers of men (Mark 1:17)” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 114). Their message is to be the same message Jesus has preached: Repent and believe in the Good News of salvation! The Kingdom of God is at hand! Welcome the seed of the Kingdom and do not be indifferent to it! The ministry of the Apostles will include healing the sick and exorcising demons. These actions – physical healings and exorcisms – look forward to their future sacramental ministry, when they will bring divine sonship, life in the spirit, heavenly bread, and divine mercy to the people they encounter. How am I imitating the life of the Apostles in my daily activities?

2. Similarities between Amos and the Apostles: Today’s First Reading has at least three connections to today’s Gospel. First, just as the Apostles were ordinary laborers – like fishermen and tax collectors, the prophet Amos was an ordinary laborer – a shepherd and orchard worker. Second, just as the Apostles were commissioned by Jesus to preach and exercise authority in Galilee, Amos was commissioned by God to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Third, both the Apostles and Amos will face opposition. In the Gospel, Jesus prepared his Apostles for the opposition they would face and how they should react to it. In the First Reading, Amos faces the opposition of Amaziah, the priest of the sanctuary in Bethel. Originally, Bethel was the place where the patriarch Jacob encountered the angel of God (Genesis 28:19). But when the northern Kingdom of Israel split from the southern kingdom of Judah in 930 B.C. and proclaimed Jeroboam as their king, one of the first things Jeroboam did was place a golden calf in Bethel and appoint a new priesthood (1 Kings 12:29). As a prophet, Amos preached repentance and proclaimed that judgment would come upon Israel. This judgment happened in 722 B.C. when the Assyrians conquered Israel and sent the ten tribes into exile. The Apostles also preached repentance and proclaimed that judgment was coming. This judgment happened especially in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple. Part of the mission of the Apostles was to go to the ends of the earth and bring the exile of Israel to an end by gathering the tribes of Israel into the New Kingdom of God inaugurated and established by Jesus. Am I working to gather people into God’s Church, the seed and beginning of the Kingdom?

3. God’s Eternal Plan: Today we begin reading Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Every Sunday, for the next seven weeks, we will read a short section from the letter. The letter, likely written by Paul during his Roman imprisonment in A.D. 60-62, is a message of encouragement. Paul spent almost three years in Ephesus (Acts 20:31), the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire, and knew the community well. “The letter teaches particularly gentiles in Ephesus about the plan of God (1:3-23) and their place in it as co-heirs of his promises in Christ (2:1-10), calling them to know and stand in the power of the risen Christ by walking in the Spirit” (Prothro, The Apostle Paul and His Letters: An Introduction, 172). In the letter, Paul prays that they may “be drawn into deeper knowledge of God in Christ and be strengthened against adversity to grow together in unity and love” (Prothro, The Apostle Paul and His Letters, 172). The letter envisions Christ reigning in heaven (Ephesians 1:20) and renewing the earth through his Church (Ephesians 3:10) (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 343). The letter begins by blessing God the Father, who has blessed the Church, and traces the present salvation of the Church back to God’s plan “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). The opening blessing in Ephesians has a Trinitarian structure. It first recalls the Father’s eternal plan of salvation, it then states that the plan has been brought to fulfillment through Christ, and it concludes with the inheritance we receive through the Spirit (1:11-14). “Salvation is worked through the Son both before history and in history as the ascended Christ lavishes forgiveness and divine graces on the church and seals them in baptism with the Holy Spirit as an ‘advance’ or ‘down payment’ … of the future inheritance of God’s children” (Prothro, The Apostle Paul and His Letters, 176). Do I have filial trust in God the Father’s eternal plan of salvation?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I am called to imitate your apostles. I am called to spend quality time with you, to speak with you as a friend in prayer, and to learn from you, for you are meek and humble of heart. I am called to be sent out to preach the good news of salvation and work towards a more just and charitable society.

Living the Word of God: On a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle. On one column, write “An Apostle With Jesus” at the top, and on the other, write “An Apostle Who is Sent Out” List in each column what you are doing for each apostolic task and what you ought to be doing.