Today's Gospel

God’s Promise of Protection

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day, we explore the Gospel, looking for a way to anchor our lives in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, which were radical 2,000 years ago, they're radical today. They were relevant to everyone's life 2,000 years ago, and they are relevant to everyone's life 2,000 years later. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verses 15 through 18. So we're right towards the end of the Gospel of Mark here.

And Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe in my name. They will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and they will drink any deadly thing and it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover."

Remember, each day, we're looking for a word or phrase or an idea that the Spirit uses to stir something in our hearts or in our souls. A very literal translation of this reading would be to say, "I am not a very good Christian because I am unable to pick up serpents, I'm unable to drink deadly potions, I'm unable to cast out demons." And so, obviously, we're not fundamentalists, we're not literalists. What jumps out at you today? What I read here today is that Jesus is saying, "I'm going to protect my people. Okay, I'm sending you out into the world. I have a plan for you and I'm going to protect you." Does that mean nothing bad is going to happen to us? No, it's not what it means. But it means He is with us, He's guiding us, He's leading us in His path, and His protection is with us. We have to be mindful of that as we move through the day. Because the serpent can represent many, many things. The deadly potion can represent many, many things. The demons can represent many, many things that we experience in our lives and that we experience in the world. Today, as we go out into the world, Jesus is saying, "I'm with you. I'm going to protect you.” Have a great day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.