PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS
Acts 4:13-21; Psalm 118; Mark 16:9-15
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says; “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News” (Mk16:15). This verse is a summary of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19. There, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
It is our duty to procliam the gospel to those we meet. Regardless of Mary Magdalene’s background Jesus appeared to her and she in turn took the good news to the Apostles. For this singular reason she is regarded as an Apostle to the Apostles (Mk16:10-11).
Peter and John in the first reading boldly exercised this injuction. Peter says “we cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard”. Are we going to stop the spread of the Good News of Christ? Every baptized is expected to hear witness to the truth ceaselessly.
Everyday at the close of the Eucharistic celebration (The Mass) we are mandated by the Priest to proclaim the gospel by our lives using any of the Dismissal formulas: Go forth, the Mass is ended; Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord; Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life; and Go in peace. Whenever the priest says the mass is ended it means that it is extended in our lives! Beloved, preach as you go, you are an extension of God’s love.
LET US PRAY
O God, who by the abundance of your grace give increase to the peoples who believe in you, look with favor on those you have chosen and clothe with blessed immortality those reborn through the Sacrament of Baptism. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
