th

4 Week in
Ordinary Time
A Summary and Reflection of the Gospel
Reading during the College Week
In partial fulfillment for the requirements in Theo 4

Submitted by:
Rosemarie M. Trabuco

Submitted to:
Mr. Emerson Ruga

February 13, 2017

Gospel: Mk 6: 7-13

Summary:

Before the opening ceremony of the college week, a mass was celebrated. The mass was
supposed to start at 8:00 in the morning but it turned to 08:30 am because although the priest
was already there, students were not yet in St. Benilde Gym. Only ¼ of the total expected
population were present on time. It was during the gospel reading when most students arrived.

The Gospel talked about how Jesus began to send out the Twelve apostles and ordering them to
take nothing for their journey. It also talked about the acceptance of houses to these Apostles
and the Word they proclaim. The last line of the Gospel revealed that the Apostles drove out
many demons and healed many sick people by anointing them.

At first, the homily was focused on students being late for the mass. Father said, “Kapag kakilala,
madaling puntahan.” to “Malalim na pagkilala, malalim na paniniwala.” What Father was
implying was that students should know more about Christ so that they will be more drawn near
to Him. He later on told that “Pananampalataya comes from the word TAYA”, meaning our faith
entails risks. It’s like when we try to win the lotto jackpot, we have faith that we’ll win so we take
the risk. But, sometimes these risks must be mitigated to an acceptable level because as Father
said, “May mga bagay na pilit nating hinahawakan na pinabibitawan na pala ni Lord.”

After that, Father went on telling about the 3H – Head, Heart, and Hands. Heart means trust and
Heart means doing. Our hands should be a sign of faith, healing and helping because faith without
good works is dead. The last part of the homily talked about faith as both a gift and a
responsibility. A responsibility to share it to others. If we truly want to experience Christ in our
lives, then we must start with faith.

Reflection:

We are all called to the mission of evangelization by virtue of our baptism. None of us can shirk
this responsibility without endangering our salvation. The Gospel seems to end with the
statement regarding the fear of the apostles. Mark probably finished it there as such an ending
demands a response from us. But are we going to let fear overcome us?

We are assured that there will be suffering as a result of our faith. There will be persecution and
difficulties. Yet in all these, my reflection is that we can stand firm knowing that God is with us
and that He has given us the grace necessary to endure them all.

Going back to the Gospel reading, when we are in the midst of proclaiming the Gospel there is
more satisfying experience than that of God providing for all our needs in simple and miraculous
ways. In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they need to place their total trust in Him if they
are truly going to be of service to His Kingdom. If we rely upon our own strengths and resources,
we are bound to fail.

Jesus calls His disciples and rescue them from their fears and hesitations in proclaiming the Word.
I realized that it is exactly the same for us. It is usually Jesus who finds us in our difficulties and
needs rather than the other way around. We who so often try to be self-sufficient find that we
have to humble ourselves and accept that we need all of the help that God so willingly gives to
us. And so, we should learn to to thank Him for His presence in our lives and seek not to wander
far from Him so that we only have to turn our side to find Him in times of struggle.

On the part of Father's homily, the main focus is faith. Faith is the central requirement for the life
of a disciple. Without faith it is not possible to surrender our lives to the will of God. Without
faith we will be left floundering in our own indecision and weaknesses. Whereas with faith, we
are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the will of God and we are left in no doubt as to what we
should do as we will always have the Lord's will at the forefront of our minds.

It makes no sense to light up a lamp and then just cover it. The same is true of the Gospel. Once
we have received it into our lives, we are obliged to share it with others. As Father said, "Faith is
a gift and responsibility. Give it also to others". Of its very nature, the Gospel is something to
share and give away. It is one of the few things that increases within us the more that we give it
away. This is a great image of the love of God - the more we share it, the stronger it will grow
within us. Let us not be selfish with the gifts that God has bestowed upon us. Let us all use the
3H - Head, Heart and Hands in proclaiming the Gospel. "If we truly want to experience Christ in
our life, let us start with faith."