Readings: 1 Peter 5:5-14; Ps.89; Mark 16:15-20
Rev.
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
OUR
MISSIONARY MANDATE IS TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO ALL CREATION
Every 25th
of April, we Celebrate the Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist. In this feast the
Church calls our attention to the mission and mandate of Christ to his
disciples. It is truly a feast which is meant for all of us who are followers
of Christ to recount our commitment to Jesus which we made at our baptism.
This
is the commitment to bear authentic witness to the faith we profess just as St.
Mark recounts in his Gospel passage we read today, which tells us the stories
of how Jesus called his disciples and commissioned them to go out to the whole
world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. We are also called by Jesus, not
only as disciples, but also as evangelists.
Therefore
evangelization is the very nature and essence of the life of the Church. Jesus
gives us the mandate and the commission to evangelize, that is, to announce the
Good News to all the nations and to spread the Gospel to every creature. This
commission is shared by all those who are baptized both priests and lay
faithful. Everyone has a particular responsibility to share in the work of
proclamation of the Gospel.
Today,
we should ask ourselves, how have we proclaimed the Gospel to the world? What
efforts are we making to ensure that the mandate Christ entrusted to us is
carried out effectively in our generation. This Easter season, how have we
proclaimed the Risen Lord to the world?
Are we
shy, ashamed or humiliated because of the Gospel? St Peter in our second
reading said: Be calm but vigilant,
because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for
someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that your
brothers all over the world are suffering the same things
Dear
friends, at this moment when the world is confused, because we have removed God
out of our daily lives, at this time when we have placed our hope in the
activities of the human person who seems to have taken the place of God, at
this time when our governments, scientists, doctors, lawyers, professors and
even pastors assumed the place of God which is the cause of the ugly situation
we are passing through in our societies today. It's time to come back to God
and follow his directions.
Thus,
it’s time to recall what Jesus says in the Gospel of John (15:1-8), l am the
true Vine you are the branches, anyone who remains with me will bear fruit in
plenty, but cut off from me you can do nothing but to perish. We have cut
ourselves off from the true Vine and now we can do little or nothing about the situations
we find ourselves in our families, society and the world at large.
Therefore,
let us come back to God our true Vine, for our help comes from Him alone. He
has commanded us to go into the whole world and preach this Gospel. Like St.
Mark whose memorial we celebrate today, let us learn to take this mandate very
seriously for it is our responsibility to fulfil our promises to God and ensure
that the Christian faith is preached and sustained in the world and by so doing
save humanity once again from sin and death.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are lost in this world, we are confused because we have cut ourselves off from You our true Vine, as we come back to you once again, please give us the grace to preach the Gospel following the example of St Mark the Evangelist, grant that we may learn from his teaching and walk faithfully in the footsteps of Christ and by so doing draw humanity once again back to You. Amen. Do have a grace filled week.
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