Calling the Apostles

                       15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                     

 

 

When we hear of prophets we usually think of them as mystical foretellers of the future. However, the special talent of the prophets we encounter in scripture was their ability to describe with sometimes brutal accuracy the wrongs of their own day and call for repentance and renewal. 

 

For the most part, the prophets we encounter in scripture claimed no special gifts or talents. Last week we saw that the Prophet Ezekiel claimed that despite his own weakness or lack of ability, the Lord had called him to carry out a mission. In our first reading today, the Prophet Amos says much the same thing. He claims that he is not a prophet and that he does not even have the learning or background to be one.

 

I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores,

The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me,

Go, prophesy to my people Israel.

 

In other words, Amos was just a simple, ordinary man no different from anyone else.        

 

In today’s gospel we see Our Lord entrusting a bunch of simple, ordinary men with a mission. Today’s gospel reading from Mark picks up right where we left off last week. We recall that after performing many healings and miracles in a neighboring region, Jesus returned home only to meet a doubtful reception from his own people. He was led to say that a “prophet is not without honor except in his own country.”

 

Nevertheless, Jesus commissions the Apostles to embark on a mission in the same way as Ezekiel and Amos. They wouldn’t need book learning or years in a seminary. They wouldn’t need a lot of money or equipment. 

 

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey

But a walking stick—

No food, no sack, no money in their belts.  

 

His authority would be all they needed to perform the same works that He had done. So, without any special training or experience they set out to do His work. We are told that like the prophets of old they preached repentance, drove out many demons, and “anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

 

When we hear of these first Apostles, we must always put ourselves in their shoes or sandals. We speak of our bishops as being successors of the Apostles, but we are all successors of the Apostles in our own little way. But how are we to be apostles or prophets with our own limited time and abilities?

 

I knew a young widow who told me about all that she was doing to care for and raise her young daughter. It was truly admirable. Nevertheless, she wished that she had more time to devote to God’s work, or to spend more time in prayer and devotion. I think I did right to tell her that when she cared for her daughter, she was indeed doing God’s work, the work she had been chosen to do. Her prayers were the words she said to her daughter. So many times in the gospel Jesus directs our attention away from Himself, and asks us to care for those entrusted to our care. His one commandment was to love one another.

 

In today’s second reading, St. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians, that is the young Christian community in the city of Ephesus, with a long introduction that seems to indicate that they are all apostles. He writes,

 

In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance

toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory. 

 

Even though we are simple, ordinary people involved in the mundane tasks of life, these same mundane tasks have been elevated or consecrated through the sacrifice of Jesus and the sanctification of his Holy Spirit.

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Reading 1.  Amos 7: 12-15

Reading II. Ephesians 1: 3-14

Gospel. Mark 6: 7-13 (Jesus Summoned the Twelve)

A Prophet Without Honor

                       14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

                    

 

                     

In today’s first reading the prophet Ezekiel is warned that his mission will be difficult. Though he is being sent to his own people, the Israelites, he should not expect a warm welcome. 

 

Hard of face and obstinate of heart

Are they to whom I am sending you.

 

This passage from the Hebrew scriptures is obviously an introduction to our gospel reading. Today’s passage from Mark picks up right after the words we heard last week where Jesus had worked some miracles in a land with a mixed population of Jews and pagans. Even though he was not a native of this territory, his reputation had preceded him and crowds swarmed around him. A woman just had to touch his cloak to be healed, and he had even raised the young daughter of a synagogue official from her deathbed. In both cases it was faith that worked the miracle.

 

But today we read that Jesus returned to his own native land and rather than receiving a hero’s welcome the people who knew him could not believe. Even when the wisdom of his words that he spoke in the synagogue amazed them, they could not believe their ears.

 

How could he be so smart? They knew he was just a carpenter or the son of a carpenter. They knew his mother, Mary. Was she any different from any other Jewish mother? They knew his brothers and sisters. Scholars tell us not to take these words literally. The words brother and sister could mean just cousins or kinfolk. In any case, there was nothing special about any of his relatives. 

 

We are told that his neighbors took offense at Him, leading Jesus to utter the famous reply.

 

A prophet is not without honor except in his native place

And among his own kin and in his own house. 

 

It is always good for us to put ourselves in the place of those mentioned in the gospels. Today we should put ourselves in the place of the hard hearted or hard headed Israelites of Ezekiel’s time, or the neighbors of Jesus who could not believe or understand.

 

Haven’t we all had the experience of underestimating someone that we knew very well? Aren’t we surprised sometimes to find out that a brother or sister, a son or daughter has done very well in their chosen profession? Has any of us had the experience of going to an awards banquet and discovering that someone we thought we knew was highly regarded by strangers? Sadly, don’t we all often fail to realize how gifted or talented our own husbands and wives might be? We all love to get recognition but it is so hard to give it. 

 

On the other hand, it is hard when we fail to receive recognition for what we have done or for who we are. From children to senior citizens we all want to get our just desserts. The gospel says that Jesus was amazed by the lack of faith of his hometown neighbors. We can understand because we are often ignored by those closest to us. It has often been said that if business men or women would treat their spouses with the same respect they treat their clients, their marriages would be much happier.

 

In today’s second reading St. Paul expresses a similar kind of disappointment. He knows that God has given him a great gift but that God has also humbled him so that he will not become puffed up.  He knows that he will not always succeed or get the recognition he desires but still he will carry on. It is better to trust in God than in yourself.

 

I am content with weaknesses, insults,

Hardships, persecutions and constraints,

For the sake of Christ,

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

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Reading 1.  Ezekiel 2: 2-5

Reading II. 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Gospel. Mark 6:1-6 (a prophet without honor)