GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 25TH April 2017
FEAST OF SAINT MARK, EVANGELIST
FIRST READING: 1 Peter 5:5-14
PSALM: Psalm 89: 2-3, 6-7, 16-17
GOSPEL: Mark 16:15-20
THEME: PREACH THE GOSPEL!
Mark, whose feast we celebrate today, was an evangelist. This means his mission was to spread the Gospel at all cost. He was a man who took the great commission seriously – “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15). He is believed to have worked closely with Simon Peter and authored, “The Gospel according to Mark”.
In our Gospel text for today, he writes: Jesus said to the disciples, “these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mk 16:17-18). Mark was not writing “theories”. In his partnership in the spread of the Gospel, he had seen these signs happening in the early Christian community.
For the early Christians, proclaiming the Gospel was their “daily bread”. It was at the heart of being Christian. Everywhere they went they preached Christ. They virtually carried the Gospel to wherever human beings could be found.
The time has come, in our generation too, for every Christian to carry the Gospel message to every place where human beings can be found. The Gospel must be heard in the shopping malls, the parliament, the stadia, the banks, the beaches, the prisons, the hospitals, the homes of people etc. The Lord is looking for committed Christians who will go out and preach the Gospel of love to a world filled with so much hatred. It is urgent. We cannot postpone it. We must preach the Gospel now. Jesus promises to confirm His Word with accompanying signs (cf. Mk 16:20). The Lord’s urgent text message to each one of us is “Go, preach the Gospel”. Onward we go, no room for fear; no room for shame!
PRAYER: My heart is ready oh Jesus, my heart is ready. Just show me the place and give me the grace and I will run at a passionate pace to preach the Gospel of grace. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen)