The missionary mandate in the Gospel of Mark is to go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to all creation. This means that every creature is meant to hear the Good News. Jesus knows that the message is a joyful one for all cadres of creation. So, he mandates that the word be preached everywhere without exception. This mandate has no time limit. It is as valid today as it was two thousand years ago.
But how possible is it to bring the Good News to all creation in the circumstances in which we live today? This is the great challenge before all Christians today. The feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, which the Church celebrates, today, gives us the opportunity to reflect on this mandate that is given to every Christian at baptism.
The Sense of All Creation
In the ecologically conscious world of today, the idea of preaching the Good News to all creation acquires an added significance. Creation used as ktisis in Mark’s Greek refers to all creatures, all created things. The heightened understanding of our eco-responsibility today inspires us to cherish the fact that the Good News of Jesus is supposed to become good tidings for all strata of creation. In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI defines evangelization thus: “For the Church, evangelization means bring the Good News into all strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new.”
The idea of all strata of humanity includes all men and women and the situations in which they live and move. This also involves the whole social and natural environment in which human beings live and interact. Jesus Christ himself is the recapitulation of all things, and this means that in Jesus we find the unity of everything in creation. So, bringing the Good News to all things involves working for the unification of all things in Christ who is the source of the very being of the entire ecosystem.
Challenges of Proclaiming the Good News Today
We live in a world which some derive joy in calling a post-Christian world. Many other ideas and ideologies challenge and contradict the Christian preaching about Jesus Christ and his Gospel. So, the contemporary preacher of the Gospel finds the environment of mission very difficult and sometimes deadly.
In many places, people are no longer interested in hearing the Gospel, and in some other places the preachers of the Gospel are persecuted because they preach truths that contradict the accepted conventional standards. It is such challenges that Jesus talks about in the missionary mandate of Mark 16:15-20 when he speaks of the accompanying signs of driving out demons, speaking new languages, picking up serpents with the hands, drinking deadly poison and laying hands on the sick.
The difficulties and challenges of preaching the Good News in many places will appear like demons, new languages, serpents, deadly poison, and forms of sickness. The great thing is that Jesus accompanies his missionaries to overcome all these challenges and difficulties. So, there is no cause for fear.
Take It to the One Who Called Us
As Christians, all we need to do is to unload all our worries unto the one who has called us, as the first reading of today from 1 Pet 5:5-14 urges us. The Apostle warns that the enemy (the devil) will continue to threaten our mission and life with his antics. We can only resist him by aligning with Jesus always, remaining steadfast in faith, and being sober and vigilant. The victory is sure as Jesus will continue to strengthen us and confirm our efforts.
