From the Word of the Day
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16: 15/ 19-20)
How should we live this Word 
Today is the liturgical feast of St. Mark the Evangelist and we reflect on the passage of his Gospel, which we know now was not in the original text. However, this takes nothing away from its inspiration since it was part of Tradition since the times of the primitive Church. It deals with the famous missionary mandate to bring the Gospel to the whole world and to all creatures. The Father is the One who sends and wills to need other missionaries who are sent by Him. All Christians are involved in this entrustment since as disciples of Jesus we are all missionaries. Everyone everywhere has the right to hear the Gospel preached. We must go out of ourselves in order to preach, leaving aside our personal interests as Pope Francis often reminds us with his famous phrase, ‘the out-going Church’.
The image of this passage ends with Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father since His journey is now ended. The disciples instead, begin their journey in the world. The journey of Jesus is perpetuated in the journey of His disciples. Jesus is not really absent but present through His synergy, in His working with us, in our collaborating together.
The Voice of the Collect Prayer for St. Mark
O God, who has glorified Your Evangelist Mark with the gift of apostolic preaching, grant that at the school of the Gospel, we too may learn to follow Christ the Lord faithfully.
DB
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