Isaiah 2:1-5 / Ephesians 3:2-12 / Mark 16:15-20
How we live our lives depends very much on what we believe in. And what we believe in will be expressed in our relationships, and in what we say and do.
So, if we believe in charity, then we would express that belief by being helpful to others, especially to the poor and those in need.
We will involve ourselves in social outreach and other services, or what is called “give back to society” and being a “helping hand to our fellow man”.
But if we think that life is difficult, and that we can only depend on ourselves, that no one is that willing to help us in our time of need, then we will be practical for our own survival.
We are only going to look out for ourselves, to watch our own back, to put our own needs first, because life is difficult and we have to be practical for our own survival.
So how we live our lives depends on what we believe in, and others will also know what we believe in by how we live our lives.
But as much as the way we live depends on what we believe in, can it also be that the way we live our lives depends on where we live in?
Of course, where we live in is where we stay, and obviously that is what we call home.
As it is often being said, charity begins at home. So, if at home, when there is harmony and charity among family members, then that is what they will believe in and that is what they will express when they are with others.
On the other hand, if at home, there are petty quarrels and troubles, then the family members will also express that tension and frustration in their social interactions.
So, it can be said that what we believe in is shaped by where we live in.
If we live in a charitable environment, we will have a charitable orientation. If we live in a tense environment, we will be expressions of that tension.
In the gospel, when Jesus tells us to go out and proclaim the Good News, let us take a moment to think and reflect on our situation.
The Church is our spiritual home. We come to Church because it is our Father's House, and Jesus gathers us as the family of God.
In Church, we gather to worship and to pray, to hear the Good News of salvation, to experience forgiveness and healing, and to be formed as disciples of love.
So, in Church, we learn how to care and how to be charitable, we learn how to forgive just as we are forgiven, and to help each other live the life that expresses our belief in the Good News of salvation.
And when we go out, then others will be able to see us as messengers and witnesses of the Good News of the saving love of God.
Yes, we want to believe that, and we want to live out what we believe in.
But the Church is not perfect. That is because Jesus came to call sinners, and not those who think that they are virtuous.
In fact, the church is like a field hospital, where people come in with all sorts of wounds and injuries.
So, in Church, those of us who are strong must bear with the failings of the weak, so as to help them to be healed and to be strengthened in faith and love.
In Church, we confess that we are sinners, but we have a Saviour.
We have our wounds and injuries, but we are also offered healing and forgiveness, so that we can be wounded healers for each other.
And just as charity begins at home, let that charity be our testimony in Church.
And when we go out, then let us bear testimony to charity, and it is a testimony to the Good News of the saving love of God for us and for the world.