Sober, but with sandals

(Mk 6:7-13)

And I and You

Truth is not at all what I have. It is not at all what you have. It is what unites us in suffering, in joy. It is what unites us in our union, in the pain and pleasure we give birth to. Neither I nor You. And me and You. Our common work, permanent amazement. Its name is Wisdom.

(Irénée Guilane Dioh)

Mk wrote his Gospel for the Roman communities, at a time when they seemed to have no future. Yet, they lived through this trying situation without shouting.

Nero began persecuting the small fraternities in 64. The following year, the Jewish revolt broke out. In the short period of the four Caesars, civil war reached its peak in Rome. In 70 Jerusalem was razed to the ground.

The passage from Nazareth - painful for Jesus himself - and the description of the sending of the disciples, was intended to be a support and light for the believers.

The Son of God [and in him anyone who authentically witnesses to him] is rejected by his own people, and what used to be his country is now no more.

This is not to be discouraged: conflicts force one to come face to face with new ways of being.

Despite the difficulties that in themselves would only create emotional traps, any situation is not without an orientation and precious horizons of new lightness, of the possibility of surrender that brings one back to life; above all, of true Communion.

In the relationship with the Father and circumstances, no one gets by on his own, perhaps by centring existence on goals and only on himself - or by changing residence (v.10) and then seeking excessive means to establish himself [under the pretext of effectiveness].

The witness of Christ is profound, and relational to the point of coexistence (even more than day-by-day); not individualistic: to be approached by showing reciprocity, a capacity for non-alienating exchange - at least between two (v.7).

It is in the face of a travelling companion that opposites are recognised [the same poles that inhabit each soul, in secret...].

The goal, then, cannot be pursued if the head remains disintegrated by the opinions around it, and the desire devoid of any principle of transforming relations - an expression of the Covenant that still arouses collaboration, a spirit of fraternity, a path.

Therefore 'model', 'principle' of analysis and prognosis for the solution of problems, and for a future of coexistence; through a completion of 'opposite sides' recognised in themselves [through micro-relationships].

In all religions, the ideal of perfection is the attainment of one's own purification, advancement, balance.

But this is not enough for us to proclaim that the Kingdom has come! It is the fruit of craftsmanship, of a journey carried out as in stages and attempts; of Love, in the Exodus.

In this way, the Risen One has invested us with a quiet but irresistible and evident force: his efficacious Word.

Word that in us becomes lucidity, charge, impetus, the ability to listen [which puts us back on our feet; at the same time, it enables us to handle things]: a compassionate power never seen before.

The proposal of the Gospels presupposes a spirit of sobriety, risk, royal empathy: this is how we evangelise environments, transmitting passion for life and annihilating the forces of death that alienate our neighbour.

By trusting in hospitality and sharing, the new missionaries finally disregard the norms of religious purity (v.8) and show a different access to the same purity, to relationships, to intimacy with the Father.

Thus, essential ingredients for building community elsewhere [and everywhere] are: contentment and renouncing ambition, sharing even in culture [giving space to all insights], familiarity in normal work and compensation; welcoming the excluded.

As in the Semitic community mentality, the new 'envoys' must make themselves the next brothers, defenders and redeemers (Go'el) of the marginalised. In this sense, we too personify the Christ figure in history and contexts.

By protecting the wretched and needy (v.13), we unfold the teaching and work of Jesus, who had done so much to stem the disintegration of community life - at that time marred by political, economic and religious servility.

The witnesses have eyes unclouded by habitual thinking: they see the divine in the soul of the seemingly summary human.

Thus - avoiding the ambiguity of riches - God's children would not have nurtured the instinct of domination over others.

Not everyone feels the call to voluntary renunciation, but each must ask himself whether material goods generate the false security and [in fact] slavery that then blocks the inclination to service.

Unfortunately, those who are friends of triumphalism and possess in excess, easily lack the main thing, which is characteristic of credibility: trust in Providence - the only spirit that does not vitiate the situation. 

All the Founders had the same concern as the Lord: not to contradict what was being proclaimed, and to have a free heart.

The Kingdom of God is made present in sobriety more than in abundance, and in the spirit of friendship more than in distinction: this is the new teaching of the Faith, compared to widespread beliefs.

In a situation almost three centuries later, which was rapidly beginning to deteriorate, Hilary of Poitiers thus denounced the seductions of power towards church leaders - already established - to whom the ancient order willingly began to grant lavish privileges (in order to instrumentalise them):

"We do not have an anti-Christian emperor [Constantius II, son of Constantine I]; we used to be persecuted, but now we have to fight against an even more insidious persecutor, against an enemy who does not beat us but flatters us, does not scourge our backs but caresses our bellies; does not confiscate our goods, for then he would give us life, but enriches us, to give us death, to make us become evangelical counter-witnesses. He does not push us towards freedom by putting us in prison, but enslaves us, inviting us to the palace and filling us with honours. He does not strike our bodies, but takes possession of our hearts; he does not cut off our heads with the sword, but kills our souls with money'.

So much for the spirit of dispossession, preached outwardly or to subordinates only!

Commenting on the Tao Tê Ching (xx), Master Wang Pi acknowledges:

"The Tao, the nurturing mother, is the foundation of life. But all men put on one side the foundation that makes people live, and cherish the flourishes of the accessory and the tinsel'.

Jesus warns, lest we disprove him with our grasping, luxury-loving behaviour, ready both for deference and pandering to power games; performing at all costs, always scrambling for role and economic levels.

"I dream of a free and credible Church, a Church that is poor and for the poor!" - stressed Pope Francis immediately after his election as pontiff.

Of course, the Son of God dreams of a poor Church [not just 'of the poor'] - but an element of opulence for us he concedes, indeed he wants it: that we wear sandals (v.9); at that time in Rome a sign of freedom and dignity not begging).

Yes, because we must rediscover the human - and walk a lot.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you participate in the Mission of Jesus and the disciples? How can you avoid cultural, doctrinal or charismatic closures (already all designed-regulated), and live the universality of the new humanisation?