Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave
In connection with today's Gospel, I am reminded of the event described in the Letter to the Galatians. Namely, the Apostle Paul took a short break in his evangelizing work and together with Barnabas and Titus went to Jerusalem to see if he had not lost his unity with the Church. Paul himself writes about it: " I went up in accord with a revelation, and I presented to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain"
(Gal 2: 2).
As we can see, the Apostle Paul has no doubt that no one is allowed to tinker with the Gospel. We are to preach the same Gospel that the Lord Jesus brought us. We would distort the Gospel if any of us wanted to proclaim it in our own name. In order to preach the Gospel authentically, one has to be sent for it. This is what today's passage from the Gospel of St. Mark tell us. The Lord Jesus sends his disciples to proclaim the Gospel. We do not know why he chose them for this - because they are neither better nor smarter than others. But he chose them and he will bestow them with the Holy Spirit, so that he would watch over them not to distort His Gospel - but that the Gospel preached by them would be authentic and full of God's power.
When sending his disciples to preach the Gospel, the Lord Jesus emphasized two things. First, that they should not rely on human resources, but on God's power. Human resources may be used by them, but it will not be effective in their preaching. The Lord Jesus said it in simple words so that they would not take bread, nor a bag, nor money, nor two tunics.
Moreover, the Lord Jesus commanded them not to be overly concerned that their preaching would be ineffective at times. They are to preach and leave the rest to God. Their preaching would be rendered meaningless, it would be a work of pride and wickedness, if they began to distort the Gospel in order to gain audience and followers. The Apostle Paul wrote very strongly about it in the above-mentioned Letter to the Galatians: “If we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed!” (cf. Gal 1:8-9)
Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave
The kingdom of God does not come officially, it comes through relationships. God did not announce salvation from heaven. He came down to earth to be Emmanuel - God with us. For thirty years he was just among people, and only then did he start teaching, working miracles. As he was passing Jericho, he noticed a man sitting on a tree and told him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." Stay in someone's house, allow yourself to be close. In this way, salvation can cross the threshold of the house first, and then the threshold of the heart.
Kiko Argüello in the book "The Kerygma: In the Shantytown with the Poor” tells how he felt called to preach the Good News to the inhabitants of slums near Madrid, mainly Gypsies. At one point, he realized that he could not reach them if he were just someone who came occasionally, to give them a "sermon." He lived in a barrack with them. They began to open their hearts to the Gospel, and it began to work miracles. Once, the Archbishop of Madrid came to the barracks in Palomeras Altas. When he saw simple, poor people, including criminals, prostitutes, destroyed people, among whom the Kingdom of God was being revealed, he burst into tears and said that this is the Church. A church that comes home to become home.
In his book, Kiko sums up his experience of evangelization, he says: “A secularized Europe/World is losing faith. People do not believe in churches anymore, they do not believe in priests, they do not believe in religious signs. But when they see love between us, they ask for baptism". God's kingdom comes through relationships. I believe this is the way of the Church.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george