1 Samuel 24:3-21 / Mark 3:13-19
From today's gospel we can be quite clear about what is our mission as Christians from two perspectives.
The first is obvious - to preach the Good News, and that is essentially to show the love for God and for neighbour in word and in deed.
That is also the divine commandment and the very essence of our faith.
The second is also obvious, but maybe in so far as it is just a concept or an idea.
And that is to cast out devils. In other words, to confront evil, to battle with it and to cast it out.
We may think that this is the task for specialists and for those with gifts of deliverance and exorcism.
But that is also our mission because to preach the Good News and to cast out evil are the two sides of the same coin.
Yet of the twelve that Jesus appointed to be Apostles, one would eventually betray him. Betrayal is indeed an evil that we ourselves need to be on guard against.
In the 1st reading, we hear of yet another evil - persecution against the innocent and harmless.
Yet, David's stand was not to take revenge because he did not want to raise his hand against the Lord's anointed.
David did not want to become a part of the evil that he was facing. In fact mercy and forgiveness were his weapons against evil.
May we too trust in the way of the Lord, the way of mercy and forgiveness, the way of love and peace, in our mission of proclaiming the Good News and in our fight against evil.