Practicing Christianity
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them our two by two….Mark 6:7

Gloria:  There’s only so much you can learn sitting in a classroom. I know this first hand having sponsored 60+ student teachers in my 30 years as an elementary school teacher.  Area colleges with teaching programs suggest that teacher interns sit and observe what goes on in the classroom for a week or two and then begin helping out little by little.  It was easy to see that after interns observed for a day or two, they were eager to start teaching.  After all, an experienced teacher can make teaching look easy. 

One intern, despite suggestions from me that his approach might not work very well, decided to go ahead with a particular hands-on lesson about the sense of taste.  He planned to have a group of rather rambunctious fourth graders put different foods on various parts of their tongues so they could discover for themselves that different areas of the tongue sense different tastes. (First no-no, the lesson itself.) 

As he began his lesson, he gave all the students all the materials all at once (second no-no).  He passed out lemon wedges which were to be used to denote the sour taste, granulated sugar for the sweet taste, and endive to represent bitterness.  He also gave each student a glass of water to rinse one taste from their mouths before trying another (third no-no). 

Well, as you might imagine, it didn’t take long for all, and I mean all, of the students to stop putting these ingredients on different parts of their tongues and start squeezing the lemon juice into their water glasses, adding the sugar, and voila! – making their own lemonade.  This was literally a case of when life (perhaps in the form of a teacher) gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Becoming a teacher is no different than many other careers and professions.  We learn best from practical experience.  If you want to become a mechanic, you need to practice working on real cars. If you want to become an attorney, you need to work on real cases. If you want to become a surgeon, you need to practice on real people, (just please God, don’t ever let it be on me!).  I’m sure we all can agree that a person’s education is not complete until what has been learned from lectures and text books is put into practice.  We learn best from practical experience and often from our mistakes.

Tony:  That same principle applies to living like a believer.  In today’s gospel reading from Mark Jesus is teaching his disciples how to do the work of ministry.  He’s saying, in effect, "Alright, you’ve watched me teach. You’ve seen me do healings and drive out demons. You’ve watched me love people who are difficult to love. You’ve seen me do things that a lowly servant would do. Now it’s time for YOU to follow suit! I didn’t pick 12 apostles to stand around and watch me perform!

It’s time for YOU to get into the action!"  Christians, you see, are meant to be players on the playing field, not spectators on the sidelines.  To be Christian in theory, but not in practice is meaningless.

Because he was a master teacher, Jesus didn’t send his apostles out to do ministry without being well prepared, withoutproper instruction and skills.    Jesus taught them by example.  He modeled the behavior he expected from them and then reinforced his meaning with instructions like: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  As I have done for you, so you must do for each other.”

Jesus performed his ministry by going from village to village.

We still do that today.  Yesterday morning, for example, 20 teens and their adult leaders from our parish left for the backwoods of Maine to work with the rural poor.  Our men as well as our women travel each year to Kentucky to minister there.  We assist our sister parishes in Russia, Ghana, and Louisiana.  We also do ministry right here in Rochester, sharing with those who are less fortunate than ourselves, as evidenced by our clothing drives, bake sales, Christmas basket program; the list goes on and on. 

And, most especially, we minister wherever and whenever we reach out in love to those God has placed in our lives – our spouses, children, aging parents, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and often strangers.  Each time we visit a shut-in, teach a child about Jesus, empathize with someone’s physical, mental, or spiritual pain, discuss a moral issue with a teen or co-worker, we follow Jesus’ example. Jesus, moreover, doesn’t expect us to do his work alone.  He knows that we may need help and reassurance and that’s why he encourages companioning, working cooperatively with others, which was evident during this past week’s Vacation Bible School here at Transfiguration when 200 kids were ministered to by lots and lots of caring teens and adults.

Gloria:  Part of Jesus’ preparation of his disciples for ministry included the instruction to “travel light.”  We can “travel light” in this world if we’re not weighted down with the extra baggage of desires like money, power, and prestige. There’s nothing wrong with experiencing the finer things in life, especially if we’ve worked hard and honestly for them, but when this becomes the main reason to live our lives, then there’s a problem.  In this, the 21st century, we live such comfortably posh lives that it’s easy to forget we’re supposed to be here on a mission! We’re supposed to be here to minister to one another! Would it make any sense for God to put us on earth to accumulate lots of material things only to leave them here for someone else when we’re gone?

An elderly man was desperately ill. Knowing the time for his departure was near, he called for his closest friends to come see him one last time. Attending him were his doctor, his pastor and his attorney.

The old man said, “They say you can’t take it with you, but who knows for sure? What if the experts are mistaken? I want to be ready for all possibilities. So I’m giving you each an envelope containing $100,000. When I die, I want you each to slip the envelope in my jacket pocket at the funeral service. Then, if I can use money in the life to come, I’ll be ready. I’m giving the envelopes to you because you are my most trusted friends.”

Shortly thereafter, the man died. Each of his three friends slipped an envelope into the deceased’s coat pocket as he leaned over the casket to pay his final respects.

 Following the service, while these friends were visiting with each other, the doctor, with a sheepish look on his face, said, “Gentlemen, I have a confession to make. You know with the cost of medicine today, the hospital is desperate for funds. We can’t even replace the CAT scan machine that’s broken. So, I took $20,000 for the new CAT scan and put the rest in the coffin.”

The priest cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes. He said, “I, too, have a confession to make. As you know, our church is seriously overburdened by the needs of the homeless. I couldn’t just see burying that money. So, in hopes of helping the homeless, I took $50,000 out of the envelope and put the rest in his pocket.”

Looking sternly at the doctor and the priest, the attorney chastised them, “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I am astonished and deeply disappointed that you would treat a solemn trust so casually. He was our friend. I want you to know that I placed in his casket my personal check for the full $100,000.”

Tony:  A major point of today’s gospel is that God intends us to live purposeful lives, lives devoted not to self centered pursuits, but to loving and serving others.  Jesus, our master teacher, gives us everything we need to be successful in ministry, if we follow his lead.  He wants us to practice what he said and did, over and over again, until it gets to be second nature.   If we do, our reward won’t be a good mark or promotion to the next grade or an academic degree, but a joyful life here on earth, followed by eternal life in heaven.

Gloria and Tony Sciolino
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Cycle B
July 16, 2006 
Amos 7:12-15; Eph.1:3-14; Mk 6:7-13