Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: 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 from there.
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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Why does Jesus send his disciples out into the world without food, extra clothing, or money in their belts? Even if they had a big breakfast, they’d find themselves hungry and homeless by nightfall without the charity of others.

Certainly, there’s a lesson here on self-reliance. Although the disciples are empowered with the gift of the Spirit, enabling them to cast out demons and heal the sick, they cannot survive in this world alone.  

Nor can any of us. As the old saying goes, “No man is an island.” We need the grace of charity and the warmth of friendship in life.

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But, more directly, Jesus is training his disciples in a Jewish tradition. 

Before walking into the Temple to pray, it was customary for a person to part with their belongings. They’d leave their money, extra layers, and walking stick at the door, while shaking the dust from their feet.

Only then could a person enter the Temple to pray physically unburdened – and by extension, spiritually free.

After praising the Lord, people could gather their belongings and re-enter the world.

By sending his disciples out into the world with the bare essentials, Jesus is teaching them to see everything and everyone they meet as within the Temple. 

The world, and we who inhabit it, are meant to be “holy,” set apart for God.

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Perhaps this is also what the Lord is asking of us – to remove the barriers we impose between the “holy” and the “unholy,” between God and the world. 

Rather, treat everything and everyone we encounter as within the Temple, and thus belonging to God.

How might this change the way we treat others today?

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Image credits: (1) LIFE Runners (2) Pastor Chris Bass, WordPress (3) Crosswalk.com

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Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, 
accompanied by his disciples. 
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished. 
They said, “Where did this man get all this? 
What kind of wisdom has been given him? 
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! 
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? 
And are not his sisters here with us?” 
And they took offense at him. 
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.” 
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This will be the final time Jesus visits his hometown in Mark’s Gospel. As we know, the Lord wasn’t greeted with welcome signs and open arms; it was complicated. 

On the one hand, Jesus returns with a following. This group of outsiders, from the Twelve Apostles to ordinary strangers who witnessed him perform miracles, gives credence to the idea that he’s more than a carpenter. 

As his neighbors question, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him?”

On the other hand, the people of Nazareth must’ve looked at Jesus with a crooked eye. To them, he abandoned his family, particularly his mother. Joseph likely died during Jesus’ teenage years, leaving Mary dependent upon him. 

The fact that Jesus left her to pursue his own path would’ve made him, at least to the locals, a type of persona non grata. Or, as we say in the South, a man who thinks he’s too big for his britches. 

So, why did Jesus leave his mother?

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With hindsight, we know that he had to begin his public ministry. But according to Jewish culture, it was only honorable to leave one’s work and family to study the Torah. Thus, Jesus returns to his hometown as a man who claims to have dedicated his life to God. 

One would think that this might’ve made his kinsfolk more receptive to his return, but anyone who has left their family and their future behind in order to study for the priesthood or religious life may have experienced this same family tension.

While many parents teach their children to put God first, when the rubber meets the road, in their heart of hearts, some actually feel, “Family first. God, a close second.”

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For their lack of faith, Jesus was unable to do much good. Those who knew him in the flesh saw him as an ordinary, blue-collar worker from a small, hilltop town. They couldn’t imagine him as anything more.

Faith would’ve been the one thing that allowed them so see that Jesus was both ordinary and extraordinary.

The son of Mary and the Son of God.

May he increase our own faith to see him for who he is today.

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Image credits: (1) Grace+Truth (2) Psephizo (3) Corpuschristiphx.org

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Gospel: Mark 5: 21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side, 
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” 
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” 
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel passage can seem confusing, as there is a story within a story. 

Imagine Jesus on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter, who is on the brink of death. The crowds were pressing in on the Lord, eager to see if he would perform another miracle. Suddenly, Jesus comes to a screeching halt.

Somebody touched him.

I’d imagine dozens of people bumped into him, but this person is different. Someone touched him in faith.

When Jesus calls the anonymous soul forward, the woman approaches him in fear and trembling because she broke the Law. Her perpetual flow of blood rendered her impure. She could neither touch another human being, nor enter the Temple to pray.

But she reached for Jesus in faith, believing in her soul that simply touching the tassel of his cloak would be enough… and it was.

In a split second, twelve years of misery evaporated.

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The same dynamics unfold once Jesus enters Jairus’ home. Since the girl is dead, anyone who touches her is considered ritually impure.

But the Lord breaks the Law, grabbing the twelve-year-old by the hand, raising her up.

Nowhere else in the Gospels are two stories of healing sandwiched together, both of which require breaking the Law in order for a person to be healed.

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What might Mark be saying to us?

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While religious laws are a good thing – they create structure and impose boundaries – sometimes they prevent people from encountering Jesus. Even the imperfect and impure can be saved. It all begins with faith.

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Image credits: (1) Salford Elim Church (2) Independent Catholic News (3) Catholic Diocese of Christchurch