Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, February 1, 2024

Gospel

Mk 6:7-13

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.

Reflection

"So they went off and preached repentance."

This is the line that resonates with me. I suppose because Lent is quickly approaching. It is that time of the year when we think of what we will give up for lent or maybe some will do something extra for Jesus like added prayers. However, repentance is a key part of our faith. How do we repent? Is there something that Jesus wants us to do specifically? I think each individual will have their own way of turning away from sin and coming back to God.

We have PAPA FACE ZBS on Wednesdays at Noon, this is our Bible Study via Zoom meeting. Last week Father Michael gave us some background on the relatives of Jesus as taught by St. Jerome. Father said to go and research for ourselves and see what we find. So I did. One of the things I found was a story on St. Jerome after he had finished translating the Bible.

The story goes that St. Jerome had finished translating the Bible just before Christmas and wanted to go to Bethlehem to honor the Birth of Christ. It is said that he had a vision of the young Lord Jesus and He asked St. Jerome what he would give him for his birthday. St. Jerome immediately thought of the great work of the translation of the Word of God and said he would give this to him. Jesus said "no, I do not want that." St. Jerome was at a loss for words and then started offering fasts, or his skills, or even his health. Jesus said, "no, that is not what I want most from you." Then St. Jerome said, "then what else is there that I could give you?" Saint Jerome said he would give him anything, just name it. So Jesus said, "Give me your sins. I came into the world to save you from your sins."

Is this a true story? I am not sure.

Jesus did come into the world to save us from our sins and this is what the disciples went out and shared with the people. This is the Good News. So why do we need to repent? It is my opinion that once we have been blessed to hear the word of God, we should make some effort to allow it to procure some change within us and in turn bring us closer to God. The effort needed could be repentance.

How will you allow the Word of God to change you?