“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” Mark 16:15

Mark is the evangelist of evangelization. From Jesus’ beginning proclamation, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel,” to his Great Commission, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel,” we are called to evangelize. Evangelization is about naming grace. It is not about bringing God to people as though God were not already there. Evangelists in every age do not make God present but name God’s presence. Mark’s Gospel shows us how the familiar is our Temple, and the ordinary is the home of God. The apostles did more than preach about Jesus. They shared the personal stories of their own development of a love relationship with Christ. Love became a golden thread that bound them to their listeners and captivated their hearts. That is why they became such astonishing convert makers. They used the most irresistible force ever invented to change people’s minds by changing people’s hearts first. The Gospel of Mark lets us conclude that every human experience if given a chance, can speak to us of God. The commission to evangelize requires us to be poets or interpreters of everyday experiences. We help others see life as touched by God. We do that by looking at life in the light of faith. Evangelizing involves looking more deeply into the ordinary to see the Extraordinary and then naming the divine graciousness sustaining us.

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