Today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Mark (16: 9-15) in which, Jesus, when he appears to the Eleven tells them, ‘Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation’.

Fr Paul says there is general agreement among scholars that the last few verses of Mark’s Gospel were not written by the same author as the rest of the Gospel, but were added later, and added was a summary of the appearances of the Risen Christ that were expressed in the other Gospels.

Because Mark’s Gospel was the first one written it ended with the account of the empty tomb and once the meetings with the Risen Christ had been described in the later Gospels it was felt that there was something missing from Mark’s Gospel and a supplement was needed.

The summary in today’s Gospel stresses that what had happened was utterly beyond the realm of human experience. Yes, it was utterly beyond anything which human nature could accomplish. And yet that is what the power and kindness of God accomplished, and these appearances of Jesus are cited to prove it.

In this Gospel and summary, we are warned that many would not believe, and the first two appearances of Jesus tell us of this disbelief. It is only the third time Jesus appears and commissions the apostles to go out and proclaim the good news that acceptance of what has happened finally occurs.

For our reflection and prayer today, Fr Paul invites us to consider – How do I go out and proclaim the Good News to those around me, here and now?