Reflection on Mark 16:9-15

Rev. Marcel E. Okwara, CSsR

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Today’s Gospel tells us about the three different appearances of the risen Christ. First, he appeared to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. Later, Mary Magdalene told his disciples who were still mourning and weeping that the Lord is risen. She was basically telling them to stop mourning, because he is alive, and not dead. But they refused to believe her. Later, Jesus appeared to the two disciples who were on their way to the country. This is possibly the two disciples that Jesus met along the way to Emmaus. When they returned from their journey, they shared their experience to the other disciples. Again, the disciples refused to believe them. Finally, when the Eleven were at table, Jesus came to them and rebuked them for not believing the accounts of those who encountered him. After rebuking them, he said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Here the Lord is asking them to stop sitting around, to stop their unbelief, get up, get ready, go out there and proclaim the good news to every creature. 

Now, to evangelize is to proclaim that Jesus is the Christos (Messiah); that Jesus is the Kyrios  (Lord). To evangelize to declare time and time again that this Jesus who is Lord and King was arrested, tortured, put to death but on the day, he was raised from the dead. The content of the proclamation of the Gospel must be that. When this kerygma, this Paschal Mystery is not at the heart of the project, not at the heart of the Christian message and evangelization, Christianity effectively becomes a tasteless religion. It becomes like one of the religions out there. Buddha died but never rose. Muhammad died but never rose. Confucius died and never rose. Every other religious figure and founder died, but none of them was ever known to have risen, appeared to their followers in a convincing manner that will drive them to lay down their lives for what they had seen. Not with Jesus, the incarnation of Yahweh. Although he was crucified by the Romans and was buried, but after three days in the tomb, he came back alive. He rose triumphantly. He conquered death. Before he died, he said he would be arrested and put to death by the powers that be. But he also said he will conquer death and rise after three days. At first, his disciples did not believe him. However, after his rising from the dead, he began to appear to them in a way that truly convinced them that the triumphant warrior is indeed alive. 

So, the central message of the Christian evangelization must be that the crucified one, Jesus, is risen. If we cannot proclaim this, Christianity becomes a social club. If we cannot preach this threatening message, Christian evangelization will effectively disappears, and becomes an invitation to bland religiosity or generic spirituality. Christianity will resemble what the world wants it to look like, which is a set of lofty ideas. Jesus would become one among the many of religious figures and founders with merely moral lessons to teach. 

So, I ask you, in what ways do you carry out the injunction of Christ ‘to proclaim the Gospel to every creature?”