Today's Gospel

The Danger of Mission Creep

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we're looking for a word or phrase or an idea from the gospel to anchor our day so that we can use that as a touchstone to live the gospel out in the very real and dynamic circumstances of our lives today. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Mark 1:29-39. "And immediately, he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now, Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she served them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him. And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place. And there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him. And they found him. And they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came." And he went throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons."

What jumps out at you today? Is there a word? Is there a phrase or is there an idea that spirit stirred within you to carry with you throughout your day? I had sort of a funny thought reading the gospel and there's this line where it says that, "That evening at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick and all who were possessed by demons." And I'm thinking to myself, well, hold on a minute. What kind of scene was that? Like if you get everyone who's possessed by a demon in a city all into one place, I'm not sure I really want to go to that place. That was sort of the crazy thought I was having as I was reading it. And of course, we have these thoughts as we read the scriptures. And sometimes there's a message in that. And of course, sometimes there isn't. But I think what strikes me so powerfully, a couple of days ago, we had John the Baptist baptizing in one place and Jesus baptizing another place. And the people come to John the Baptist and saying, "Hey, like everyone's going to follow Jesus now, and how do you feel about that?" And John, having a really clear sense of self, a really clear sense of mission, and basically saying, "Hey, that was inevitable." I told you that would happen. Today, we've got Jesus has healed everyone. He's cured everyone. Late at night, he's gone off to pray. And then the next morning, Simon and the others, they've come to Jesus. And this is what Simon says. He says, "Everyone is searching for you." What were the typical person's response? The typical public figure's response to that would be, "All right. Well, let's go sign autographs and have selfies and do that." And Jesus is like, "Let's get out of here." The disciples are like, "Jesus, they're all searching for you." And Jesus is like, "Let's get out of here." Why? Because he understood the danger of mission creep. He understood who he was, what he was there for, and he wasn't there just to hang out and sign autographs. He had done his mission in that place, and it was time to move on. And I could just imagine the disciples' faces like, "Everyone's looking for you, Jesus." And Jesus is like, "Great, let's get out of here. Let's go on to the next place." And the cognitive dissonance for the disciples, I'm sure, because they're very human, right? We discover they're very human, just like you and I are very human. And so what's the lesson for us? The lesson is, just because everyone's looking for us doesn't mean that's the place we should go. Just because everyone likes us doesn't mean that's the place we should go. We have to listen to the voice of God in our lives, work out what our mission is. Follow that voice, follow that mission. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.