We Are The Heralds

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟓:𝟒𝐛-𝟏𝟒

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟗:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟔-𝟕, 𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟕 “𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟓-𝟐𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝

𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝” (𝐯.𝟏𝟔) 

THIS IS IT! For the Apostles, disciples who came after them and us, the modern-day servants of the Word, the time to put into practice all the things we learned from our close association with Jesus has now come.

Some probably will feel anxiety running down their spine or even fear at the big responsibility ahead of us. While others will have their adrenalins pumping with excitement at the prospects of taking over from where Jesus left off. Regardless of whatever they may have felt at the time and us today, they and we know that the Holy Spirit will be with them.

          They all walked, ate and prayed with Jesus. They saw him up close when he healed the sick and raised the dead to life. He taught them everything they needed to know. And now it’s time for them to take over the mission. Their mission was no different from the mission that has been entrusted to us who have been baptized in the Spirit.

          But this learning curve of the early Christians may not be enough if we are to look at the enormity of the tasks ahead of them as well as the persecution that the followers of Jesus would be subjected to in those days.

But if there was one thing going in their favor, it was the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus gave to those whom he sends to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

          And in this Gospel passage, Jesus issues the directive on what the disciples are to do. They are to: (𝟏) 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬, (𝟐) 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, (𝟑) 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, (𝟒) 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝, (𝟓) 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 (𝐯𝐯.𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟖).

          These are what we call the action part of what the Apostles and his disciples are to do that are like what we as Christian disciples do in the ministries where we serve. But over and above these is the need to proclaim the Kingdom of God to all who will hear and listen. I have been saying this all along that evangelization does not start with programs and projects but with prayer.

          This is the reason why some communities and ministries are not progressing is because of the wrong concepts they have of what constitute mission. When referring to mission, the Church per se considers evangelization as its primary mission. While some ministries and communities may go into the construction of homes for the poor, soup kitchen, medical missions, livelihood and educational programs, these activities should not supplant the primary mission of the church which is to bring the Gospel of Christ to the world. Unfortunately, such programs and projects may be easier to undertake than to point others to Christ.

          The directives given to the Apostles might as well be ours also especially for those who have made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ our Savior and what we see in this Gospel passage is the primary task that we are to pursue as Christian disciples.

          Jesus is calling on us to preach the Gospel everywhere and he assures us that he will continue to work with us and that he will confirm the message we are to proclaim with signs that will accompany our work (𝐯.𝟐𝟎).

          You will notice that the instructions given by Jesus to the Apostles are the same as what He has been doing during his earthly ministry. It presupposes that the Apostles have already been trained on how to heal the sick, raise the dead to life, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons, and Jesus also expects that we who have been baptized, formed and weaned in the Church or Community that we belong to can replicate what the Apostles did when we go out to the mission field.

          Raising the dead to life can be a metaphor because a dead person need not necessarily be dead physically but anyone whose life is consumed by darkness is considered dead. The Jews then and now equate death with sinfulness in the same way that it is also the belief of the Jews that persons afflicted with leprosy are as a result of their sins.

          And what Jesus is saying is that we can help bring back to life a person who is unclean if we can help them heal themselves and provide them with the antidote to their unforgiveness, bitterness and, resentments which may have been lingering in their lives that make them unclean.

          As with the Apostles, we are to do this in conjunction with the more important task of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. The Jews longed to have their own Kingdom and be freed from the oppression of the Romans who have occupied their land, but they had a different mindset of the Messiah. And what Jesus was saying was that His coming into the world heralds the coming of the Kingdom of God.

          This pronouncement rings true even today when we hear that the Kingdom of God is near. Jesus has begun His Kingdom in the hearts of His Apostles and his disciples and in us whom He has gathered from the dark valleys where we dwelt before Jesus found us. The time will come when this Kingdom will be fully realized and evil will be erased from the face of the earth and the people will live in peace with one another.

          He is also telling us that the gift of life that we received has been freely given by Our God and that we are to also give this gift to others as a gift. Translated into action, what Jesus is saying is that for all the many blessings that we have received, we are now called upon to give generously of our time, love and possessions.

          Today we also celebrate the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Each of the four gospel accounts gives us a portrait of Jesus, his life, mission, and teaching. Each one has a different style. But they all have one thing in common – the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

          Among the four gospels, Mark's account is unique in many ways, and it was significant that Mark, as well as Luke, were chosen by the Holy Spirit to write the gospel account even though they weren’t among the twelve Apostles.

St. Augustine of Hippo said: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱.”       

Jesus' last words to his Apostles were to be witnesses of his death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the Good News of salvation to all the world. Their task was to proclaim the Good News of salvation not only to the people of Israel but to all the nations.

          This is what the Church refers to as the Great Commission which the risen Christ gave to the whole church. Those who believe in Him have been given a share in this task – to be heralds of the Good News and Ambassadors for Jesus Christ. The best part is that we are not alone in this task because Jesus continues to work in and through us by the power of his Holy Spirit.

          To empower us in this task of proclaiming the Good News of salvation to the ends of the earth, we should invoke the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us with an indomitable spirit of praise and joy that can overcome all forms of trials and challenges.

To be effective witnesses, we must be filled with a strong faith in His resurrection because it is only through the risen Christ that we can share the gift of life with others. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 25, 2026)