The Powerful
Testimony of Detachment
(see Mk 6:7-13)
Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ,
This
Sunday’s Gospel story tells us how Christ sent His disciples to mission with
complete detachment from earthly ambitions.
We would see
what detachment Christ wants to teach His missionaries.
First, this
is a detachment from material comforts.
He tells them to take no food, no sack and no money. We do need basic comforts to sustain our
lives. Too much worry about everyday
needs, however, may cause us an obstacle big enough to prevent us from completely
dedicating ourselves to serve the Lord.
Besides, missionaries are thought to be givers, not recipients,
distributors, not collectors, of both material and spiritual benefits. Accumulating possessions and riches not only
betrays a missionary’s commitment, but puts him or her into temptation of greed
as well.
Second, this
is a detachment from earthly powers. He
tells them not to look for people’s backing, nor be dependent on anyone’s
authority. In fact, we do need
cooperation when working as a team. Too
much dependence on people’s support—either financial or political—however, may
cause us bias in judging and acting fairly.
Saint Paul teaches in 2 Tim 2:9 that “the Word of God is not
chained.” Missionaries should be free,
too, from any form of prejudice, fear and shame, to loudly speak out the truth
of Christ’s salving power. This is the
reason why Christ tells His disciples, when not welcomed or listened to, to
leave and shake dust off their feet in testimony against those evildoers.
Only with
such a detachment, could missionaries become, not preachers who talk too much
but do too little, but true witnesses of what they have seen, heard, and
experienced regarding God’s merciful love convincingly shown in the life,
suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, our Lord and Savior.
By Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
