Reading
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Meditation
Jesus, who previously asked the apostles to preach the gospel of salvation to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mt 10:5-6; 15:24), now extends this mission to the whole world (v. 15). Eleven apostles will not be able to fulfill such a great task alone, but together with the seventy-two disciples and others who will follow them from generation to generation, they will sow the seed of the gospel towards the four corners of the earth.
The "great commission" is similar in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Through baptism, we enter the Church, the community of the Risen Jesus, and the function of the Church is to evangelize every creature (v. 15).
Miracles, which at the beginning of Jesus' preaching were "signs" to arouse faith, now become an expression of the kingdom of God which is making its way through history. That outlined by Jesus is a reconciled humanity: the peaceful coexistence with poisonous snakes, the ability to free us from the influences of evil, the rediscovered mutual understanding without losing the richness of differences, are the signs of a new sky and of a new land (Ap 21,1), promised by the Risen One in the new covenant signed on the cross.
While cultivating dialogue between different faiths and cultures, in the solidarity aroused by the common human nature and in the recognition of diversity as a blessing, the urgency and responsibility of the evangelical announcement cannot be neglected: "woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!" exclaims the apostle Paul (1 Cor 9,16), reached by the mercy of the Risen One.
Proclaiming Christ means participating in his priestly mission, to free man from what makes him a slave; it means not to allow to be damaged by the wickedness of this world but to know how to heal its wounds.
Prayer
Renew in us, Lord, the fervor for the proclamation of your Word; so that we can be dispensers of your saving and healing grace. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
