Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 5, 2026 - Thursday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12 and Mark 6:7-13,398]Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick - no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals, but not a second tunic. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them. So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. [Mark]
FEBRUARY 5 ST. AGATHA, virgin and martyr
Two of the major transitions that I have witnessed in the lives of my campus ministry parishioners have been from undergraduate or graduate school into professional life and then, from mentorship into independent performance! There comes a moment when the supervisor is no longer at one's elbow and one must do what one has been preparing for! GULP!!!
Jesus sends the Twelve out to do all that he has been preparing them to do! His requirements seem dire to us: no food, no money, etc. [St. Dominic gave similar instructions to his first friars when he sent them out to preach!] Jesus also gave the Twelve a message to preach: REPENTANCE! along with power to drive out demons and cure the sick.
In our own day, the mission is the same but the conditions for performing it are not the same. Still, the connection between lifestyle and message is important. Missionaries in poor countries discover this right away. Sharing the life of those to whom we preach can say more than our words. It has to be more than pretending to do so, but with an eye to keeping the effort alive and supported. To be a "missionary disciple" we have to come to the moment when the Lord says, "I've done all I can for you, you are now on your own. You know how to get in touch with me." GULP!! AMEN!
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