Why did Jesus give the apostles these great powers?  And what was his purpose in providing them with this internship?  To answer that question I turn again to the image of the internship.  Interns learn by the experience of getting involved in the work of their employer. He wanted them to do the same work that he was doing.   The work of preaching, teaching and healing. As a good employer, he gave them what they would need to succeed. BE EQUIPED THEN GO! GOD BLESS! 
  
Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time 
Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24 
Psalm 48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 9, 10-11 
Mark 6:7-13 And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, "Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them." 12 So they went out and preached that men should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. 
  
Meditation by Tom Bannantine, S.J. 
In the world of work we often hear the word internship.  It refers to a period of time when persons new to a particular field of human endeavor and ready to begin work are given supervised training whereby they learn by experience.  There are internships in many areas: health care, law, business and the arts to name a few.   
In today's gospel reading from St. Mark we hear about an internship that Jesus provided for the twelve apostles.  He gave them a training period where they would learn by experience how to do the work for which they were chosen; the work of evangelization.  At this point in the public life of Jesus the apostles were still new to this work.  They had not yet learned everything that they would need to know in order to establish Christ's church here on earth.  We hear several times later in the gospel story that the apostles did not yet recognize that God's kingdom was a heavenly one, not an earthly kingdom.  During the passion Peter denied Jesus three times, Judas betrayed him, and most of the others simply ran away from the events of Christ's suffering and death.  Yet these are the same men that Jesus chose as his apostles.  They are the ones for whom he provided this internship not  long after they had been chosen.  In order to help them during
this internship, Jesus gave the apostles extraordinary powers.  St. Mark tells us that the apostles were able to drive out demons from those possessed and to cure people of various maladies after anointing them with oil.  These are awesome powers far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.  Yet for this internship Jesus provided the apostles with these powers.   
  
For me, the natural question here is why?  Why did Jesus give the apostles these great powers?  And what was his purpose in providing them with this internship?  To answer that question I turn again to the image of the internship.  Interns learn by the experience of getting involved in the work of their employer.  Jesus was the employer of the apostles, and as a good employer he wanted them to learn by experience.  He wanted them to do the same work that he was doing.   The work of preaching, teaching and healing.  But in order to do this work, the apostles would need the powers that Jesus now gave them.  As a good employer, he gave them what they would need to succeed.   
  
I think that the mission of the twelve apostles demonstrates the trust and confidence that Jesus had in them.  They were not yet completely ready for the mission they would undertake when Jesus left this world.  But they were good men and completely loyal to Jesus.  They were ready to go and do as he did.  They were ready to learn from the experiences they would have.  And so Jesus sent them out two by two on this missionary journey or internship.  They returned much the better for their experiences.         
  
  
Supplementary Reading 
One Out of Ten 
  
 "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" -Malachi 3:10 (NIV) 
  
  
When our boys were little, we taught them to tithe. My father taught me to tithe when I was a little girl. I remember seeing him stand before the congregation and line up 10 apples. Then he took one apple and put it to the side. "That's God's apple," he said. And then he picked up God's apple and began to eat it! 
  
That's all He asks for. We get to keep all the rest. We get to keep nine! He gives them to us. He provides them. And all He asks for is one. But sometimes we think we can't live on just nine apples. We are convinced we need all ten. 
  
Of course, I never forgot my dad's lesson to the congregation, and taught the same principle to my sons. They were given two jars - their jar and God's jar. When they got their allowance, they would put God's tenth in God's jar and put their own nine-tenths in their jar. One night my parents came over to babysit. Jason, the oldest, dragged his grandparents up to his room to show them his money jars. "Look!" he said, "Just look at how much I have and how little God gets." 
  
Perhaps tithing would be easier for people if they thought of it as getting to keep 90% - nine out of ten. God asks for little and He promises us that if we obey - He will bless us to overflowing! 
  
God, You have said to test You. What would happen in our lives if we were faithful to give back to You one-tenth? Would our lives be overflowing with blessings? I am going to do it. I am going to put You to the test. I am going to give You one-tenth. I love You. I am grateful for You and ALL You have given me. Amen. - by Sheila Schuller Coleman