Post-feast of the Dormition; Holy Martyr Agathonicus and those with him (286-305); Passing into Eternal Life (1964) of Bishop Symeon (Lukach) Confessor of Krasnoyarsk and Pastor of the Stanyslaviv (Ivano-Frankivs’k) Region
2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5; Mark 3:13-19.
Read Mark 3:13-19
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Mark gives three reasons that Jesus appoints the twelve apostles. First, Jesus appoints them “to be with him.” This may sound a little obvious, but it is worth thinking about: the beginning of any Christian mission is simply being with Jesus. How do we tap into that today? There are many ways, but one is to be with your fellow Christians. In John 21, the disciples go fishing after the resurrection, and have an encounter with the risen Christ – and at the beginning of that passage, John simply says that “the disciples were together.” It’s not until we get used to living with our fellow Christians that we can expect a serious encounter with Christ.
Second, Jesus will send the apostles out to preach. A relationship with Jesus is not something we keep to ourselves. It’s a gift that we are meant to share. The apostles spent a lot of time with Jesus before they were sent out to preach, and we also need to spend a lot of time in prayer and fasting, working to be attentive to Christ, before we do any serious preaching in our own lives and relationships. But sooner or later, a time will come for us to witness to Christ. Let’s be ready for it.
Third, Jesus gives the twelve authority over demons. If we take seriously our Christian vocation, sooner or later, we will face evil. This may be demonic, or it may take a more mundane form. But, like the twelve, we have to take the vocation to be light in the darkness seriously. A relationship with Christ means a willingness to break our relationships with sin and death.