(Please read the Scripture passages first, before the homily.)
Today we celebrate the conversion of Paul the Apostle from being a persecutor to a believer in Christ. The Gospel reading celebrates the need to proclaim conversion.
In the earliest manuscripts of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark’s account ends at verse 8 of this chapter. It is as if Mark ended his gospel account on the run, just as he had begun it with Jesus on the move. It is as if he were inviting us to write the ending verses ourselves.
We do not have the original writings of the Bible. We have copies of copies of the original, some with variant readings. The verses from today’s passage do not match the style of the first 15 chapters. This does not mean that they do not belong in the Bible. It just means that someone other than Mark wrote them.
Today’s passage may answer the question, “What happened after the resurrection?” The answer is, “You, go out and proclaim the gospel as Jesus, the Son of God has done.”
So we are to out, as did the apostles, as did Paul, as have done many others before us. We are to carry on the message. We are to drive out demons and speak new languages. We are to lay hands and heal the sick.
This may well mean that we have to wear face masks and distance ourselves socially from others. It may mean that we have to take our healing powers into COVID-19 places and bring healing. It may mean that we welcome people who do not speak our language. It may well mean that we have to speak their new language. It may be our greed and lack of love is the serpent we must eject and reject.
It certainly means that we have an obligation to carry on the work of Jesus in our world. Despite weather, despite political differences, despite our own feelings, we have to proclaim the Gospel to every creature around us. We must proclaim to those who live with us, even our pets, to the whole of nature in which we live, to the automobiles that chase us or that we chase. The Gospel says to proclaim to every creature, not just to every human.
If we look at our obligation to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, we may see greater possibilities for ourselves. Imagine announcing the Gospel to snow trucks, emergency vehicles, ordinary traffic as well as the animals at our homes and on the way. This can change our ordinary and, perhaps, run-of-the-mill life into something exciting.
We now have an opportunity to add our ending to Mark’s Gospel tell how the word has spread from his day to our day. We can also pass it on to the next generation. I must go now, and you must go now. There are cars, cats and dogs, people in elevators or at computers or mopping floors, and the weather that need to experience the good news from us today.