FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD
25 April 2024 EASTER THURSDAY 4
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. (Mark 16: 15-20)
How shall I live this Word? 
We are within the long finale of the Gospel of Mark, the “second conclusion” of the Gospel, from verse 8 to 20 of chapter 16, which does not seem to have been written by the evangelist by style, vocabulary, material. The text seems composed at the beginning of the second century, but welcomed by the Catholic Church and defined as canonical, that is inspired, by the Council of Trent. But beyond this information, what do we find in this part of the liturgy? As in the Gospel of Luke and Matthew, we find the appearance of the Risen One to the eleven, the ascension of Jesus, and the beginning of the mission. Jesus tells us again that the discriminating of salvation is left to the freedom of each one, the freedom to accept or not His message, to believe or not in His Word. The name of Jesus is powerful. He drives out demons, frees and saves from evil; it is his name that opens every heart and is the giver of life. Jesus asks us to live in His name and to make Him present: He never abandons us; He walks with us forever. Even now.
Grant that we may repeat with faith Your name Lord, to believe that Your repeated name makes You present. Grant that we may repeat it with the intensity of the love of those in love with Jesus.
The voice of Pope Francis – Homily 25 April 2020
The Lord revealed Himself as a savior, as the only Son of God; He revealed Himself to all Israel, to the people, especially with more details to the apostles, to the disciples. This is the farewell of the Lord; the Lord goes away. he left and “was lifted up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19). But before leaving, when He appeared to the Eleven, He told them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). This is the missionary nature of faith. Faith is either missionary or it is not faith. Faith is not just for me, so that I may grow in faith; this is a Gnostic heresy. Faith always leads us out of ourselves. Go out. The transmission of the faith; the faith must be transmitted; it must be offered, especially with witness. “Go, so the people may see how you live”.
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Living Scripture 
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