GOSPEL REFLECTION, FRIDAY, 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, 23 JANUARY 2026

Mark 3:13-19.  Jesus had now established his public ministry and his fame grew steadily.  The question remains, however, whether fame and recognition add up to personal trust and faith.  Jesus now called disciples to him, appointing twelve to “be with him, to be sent out to proclaim ‘the message – the Good News – the Gospel,’ and to have the authority to cast out demons.”  They were to learn of Jesus and develop trusting faith in him, and then to do as he did.

To “be with” Jesus is to share in his daily life, talking with him, being taught by him, seeing what he did, and sharing in the highs and lows of Jesus’ life experiences and his way of life.  Jesus often took them aside for further instruction when Jesus performed healings and miracles, when he taught the people, and for extra teaching when he taught by parable.  Growing in intimacy with him, they learned more and more to TRUST him, to HAVE FAITH in him, and to share that with others.

By proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom (the core of Jesus’ ministry), they helped to expand that Kingdom.  To do that, they learned to share insights into who Jesus was, and to share the revealing moments as he showed the Father to them.  Jesus was the very image of the Father, but that took eyes to see; it was not necessarily self-evident.

Out of that intimacy, that knowledge of Jesus and their trust in him, they were to share in his ministry of healing and delivery from forces of evil.  They were to have his compassion and his constant proclamation of all that was life-giving over all that was death-dealing.  Their successors in that work are the clergy of our time.