Gospel (Mk 6,7-13) - At that time, Jesus called the Twelve to him and began sending them out two by two and gave them power over impure spirits. And he ordered them to take nothing for the journey except a staff: neither bread, nor bag, nor money in their belt; but to wear sandals and not to wear two tunics. And he said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave there. If in any place they do not welcome you and do not listen to you, go away and shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony to them." And they, having left, proclaimed that the people would convert, they would banish many demons, they would anoint many sick people with oil and heal them.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The evangelist Mark writes: «He called the Twelve to him and began sending them two by two». Jesus calls the Twelve to "send them" on a mission. The Gospel does not stop calling from generation to generation, it comes to look for us, it wants us, and this is our grace. It is not obvious that this is the case, and when we think that it is our merit, then we easily forget the gift of love that is being loved and called by him. In reality each of us could say with the prophet Amos: «I was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, I was a herdsman and I cultivated sycamore plants. The Lord said to me: "Go, prophesy to my people Israel". Each of us has his own story, his life, his character, but we have all received a call, an invitation from the Lord. And Jesus sends us two by two, the disciple is not a loner, a hero, but a brother and a sister. Sometimes we think that the real things are those we do alone, according to such a banal and widespread individualism. The Christian always needs his brother and sister, and as Gregory the Great comments, he sends them two by two so that their first testimony would be mutual love. He sends us into the world and we must change it using his strength of love, so we do not fear any impure spirit: nothing can resist love. What are unclean spirits? "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God", said Jesus. Here is what is impure does not allow us to see God before us. Impurity is in those eyes of the heart, which in the end make us look only at ourselves, and prevent us from seeing that God is before us, loves us, is before us in our brothers and sisters, in the poor who knock at the door. our door. The Lord wants to make his love for him concrete and ask men to change, tell them that it is possible to live differently, freeing themselves from the law of self-love and self-interest. We will then see many demons of loneliness, of misunderstanding, of resentment, demons of hatred and revenge, of greed and sadness, of pride and bitterness, moving away from people. It is the power of the love of the Gospel. It is the beginning of the kingdom of God.