Mc 6,7-13 – Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr – Memory
On today’s page of the Gospel of Mark we read quite clearly what is needed to fulfill the mission entrusted by Jesus. On the one hand there is an explicit request to go two by two, almost as if to say that Christianity can only be understood when true brotherhood is experienced.
The Christian faith is not a journey in solitude: it always implies a change in the quality of relationships with others. Without communion with others we cannot understand the Gospel. And then, explicitly, Jesus says that he carries neither stick, nor bread, nor bag, nor money, but only sandals on his feet, perhaps to explain to his disciples that the effectiveness of the announcement does not rest on worldly and material strategies, but only on the mysterious, effective and very concrete providence of God.
But this page of the Gospel does not refer only to those who explicitly announce the Gospel, but to all Christians who are called to announce it in their daily lives of their life. It almost seems that Jesus today wants to say to each of us: evangelize with your being a mother, with your being a father, with your work, with your illness, with your youth, with your things, with what happens to you, remembering not to trust human strategies, but only trust in the One who really cares for you.
“And having gone out, they preached that the people should convert, they cast out many demons, they anointed many sick people with oil and healed them”. Who lives like this help others changewards off evil and becomes a principle of healing.
Thursday 5 February 2026 – (Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr – Memory)
