The church’s participation in God’s mission

Author: Fr. Amala Gnana Prabhu Jesuraj
Mission of Justice and mercy
Reflection Date: February 06, 2025 Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Daily Readings: Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24; Mark 6:7-13

Jesus commissions the Twelve, inaugurating the church’s participation in God’s mission. Sending them two by two reflects the communal essence of discipleship, rooted in Trinitarian relationality and mutual accountability. This partnership resists individualism, embodying the unity of Christ’s Body. Their paired ministry fulfills the legal requirement of dual witnesses (Deut 19:15), authenticating their apostolic message. Jesus’ command to forgo provisions underscores kenotic surrender—emptying oneself to depend wholly on divine providence, evoking Israel’s wilderness journey sustained by manna.

The disciples’ authority (exousia) over unclean spirits proclaims the inbreaking Kingdom’s victory over Satan’s dominion (Col 2:15), enacting eschatological liberation. Their call to repentance (metanoia) demands a holistic reorientation toward God’s reign, confronting personal and systemic idolatries. Rejection of their message, symbolized by shaking the dust from their feet, demarcates covenant boundaries, warning against obstinate unbelief. This passage defines the church’s vocation: Spirit-empowered witness through radical trust, confronting evil with the Gospel’s transformative power. Contemporary disciples are summoned to similar vulnerability, rejecting self-sufficiency to manifest God’s sufficiency (2 Cor 12:9). As Christ’s sent community, we mediate His presence, embracing cruciform solidarity with a broken world. Our mission, marked by holy simplicity and bold dependence, advances the Kingdom’s justice and mercy, trusting the Spirit who empowered the Twelve equips us to confront today’s “demons”—oppression, despair, and sin.

Mark’s narrative thus issues a paradigmatic call: the church exists as a sacrament of divine love, heralding repentance and resurrection hope through self-emptying service. Herein lies the already-not-yet tension: proclaiming Christ’s decisive victory while participating in its cosmic unfolding until the final Restoration. To heed this commission is to embrace our identity as grace-bearers, stewards of mysteries (1 Cor 4:1), entrusted with illuminating darkness with the Kingdom’s inextinguishable light.

A Call to Action for Catholic Living: Embrace the church's mission as grace-bearers, living in Spirit-empowered trust, confronting evil with the transformative power of the Gospel, and advancing God's justice and mercy through self-emptying service.