Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time July 14, 2021
Amos 6:7-13; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13
One day, as usual, an orphan, a little girl, stood at the street corner begging for food, money or whatever she could get. Now, this girl was wearing very tattered clothes, was dirty and quite dishevelled. A well-to-do you man passed that corner without giving the girl a second look. But, when he returned to his expensive home, his happy and comfortable family, and his well-laden dinner table, his thoughts returned to the young orphan. He became very angry with God for allowing such conditions to exist. He reproached God, saying, How can you let this happen Why don t you do something to help this girl. Then he heard God in the depths of his being responding by saying “Yes friend I did something. I created you.”
We are all missionaries in our own way. In the First Reading, we heard the Lord instructing Prophet Amos to go and to prophesy to the people Israel. Amos was a native of Judah. He was a shepherd by profession and dresser of sycamore trees. Such a person was called by God to be the shepherd of his people. He was given the task of communicating the word of God with a call to repentance in order to be saved.
The Gospel of today tells us of the mission and ministry of Jesus where the master accepts human helps to continue his work. For Jesus, from the beginning, it has been a shared ministry. He invites his own chosen men to work with him. Jesus had been quietly training his chosen Apostles for some time. They had heard his preaching they had seen the miracles worked by him. Their future work will be to bring his teaching and the story of his life and miracles to all people.
Gospel today is telling us that each Christian is called not only to be a disciple but also to be an apostle. A disciple is one who hears, who accepts and who carries out the teaching of Jesus in his/her life. A disciple follows Jesus, imitates Jesus, and becomes a second Christ. An apostle is not only a follower but also an evangelizer.
As we read the Second Reading we feel consoled in our mission. Paul tells the Ephesians that we were chosen by God before creation and wanted to be saved by the blood of His son Jesus. The motive of God’s choice is love. His plan for humanity existed from the beginning as he cared for each and every one.
We are aware that Christ the Son of God could have spread his Gospel of peace and love and the message of eternal salvation to the whole world without any human help. Yet he chose the weaker and more human way of evangelizing people by sending their own fellowmen who brought the Good News to them. This choice showed his divine love and understanding of weak human nature much better and more effectively than the use of any supernatural means which he could have employed. Today we realize that we all have been sent by God and the church to spread and defend the faith before our family, our friends and our co-workers, we can expect that our Christian obligation will not be easy. We have to be prepared to be rejected by many or even our own communities because we represent Jesus on earth.
It is sad to now that many a time we tend to think that the pope, bishops and priests are only the missionaries. The Church teaches us that all are missionaries by the virtue of our baptism. Therefore it is our duty to spread the message of Christ in our context. This story might help you understand this point.
There was a story about a mother carrying her child in her arms was asked by a prosecutor in a court to renounce her faith in God. Her child cried out to the prosecutor: “Jesus Christ is the true God.”
The prosecutor asked the child: “Who told you so?” “My mother,” replied the child. “And who told your mother?” asked the prosecutor again. “God told her,” the child answered him.
Parents are the first missionaries in our families. May we all hear the call to be missionary in our personal vocation.
(You are most welcome to add your thoughts and reflections in the comment section below)
Happy Sunday
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