SUNDAY HOMILY OF 15TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

SUNDAY HOMILY OF 15TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: YOU ARE CALLED TO BE HOLY

 Friar Tochukwu Okonkwo, OFM Cap.

Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13

 The first reading (Amos 7:12-15) is set around the call of Amos. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom of David was divided into the Southern kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem, and the Northern kingdom of Israel with its capital in Samaria.

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 The temple in Jerusalem was where they all offered sacrifice until Jeroboam king of Samaria forbade his people from going up to Jerusalem to worship. He gave them the option of Bethel and was not mindful of the Lord’s command. As a result, his people deviated from the covenant, and God roused a poor shepherd boy Amos to announce a day of reckoning of the Lord.

 Amos was from the Northern kingdom but preached in the Southern kingdom. This became why Amaziah asked him not to prophecy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary. Of course, Amos said that Jeroboam will die by the sword, and this was discomforting to hear. Amaziah was not happy at his boldness and zest – even as a nobody, so to speak, that he may have been.

 The Psalmist (Ps 85) reminds us that obeying God’s call places us under his mercy and ensures our salvation.
 In the Gospel (Mk 6:7-13), Jesus sends out the twelve and invites them to the practice of the core of discipleship which involves total trust in God’s providence and reliance on him in their (our) mission of spreading the gospel.

 The “shaking off” the sand is an invitation not only to expect rejection but also to joyfully accept it and to leave out everything to God himself who is to judge. This preparation for rejection is a way of getting them to trust in divine providence. That is why Jesus would tell them that they should not go on the journey with whatever would hinder the delivery of the good news must be kept away.
 Amos himself was rejected by a people who should welcome him. What then should we do with rejection? Shake it off! Do not focus on it, and then move on to another mission. Do not busy yourself with it or excuse yourself with it.

 The second reading (Eph. 1:3-14) is a hymn or doxology of God’s greatness and human nothingness. In it, St Paul reminds the Ephesians (Jews and proselytes) that they are all one in Christ.
 Since we have become his by his choice then it means all that belongs to him is ours. It is in this that he calls us to be holy and blameless before him.
 If then we heed the call of holiness, we will not be like the Israelites or the priest Amaziah who did not care much about God’s will but only what pleased the king.
 If also we truly respond to the call to holiness, then Jesus sending forth his disciples to proclaim the good news will be constantly carried on in the way we live our lives by extension.

 The call to be holy is a universal one to all Christians and not to a selected few or to only priests and consecrated persons. The dogmatic constitution of the Church, Lumen Gentium discusses the universal call to holiness saying “…all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity…” (Chpt. 5, No 40).

 A victim or oblation for sacrifice is considered holy. You are yourself dedicated to a Deity of deities by your baptism. You are dedicated to God himself. You are called and set apart. It implies living in the world and not being of the world.
 A Christian must learn to react differently from others passing through the same experience but not losing one’s self in it.

 LESSON FROM TODAY’S LITURGY
One clear lesson we learn in today’s liturgy is that WE ARE ALL CALLED TO HOLINESS OF LIFE: St Paul tells us that we have been blessed with every heavenly and spiritual blessing to enable us to be holy. This means that the excuse that holiness is not possible is a deception from the devil. You too can be and must be holy. This holiness of life is such that it should radiate in such a way that our actions must be congruent with our words or we make a mockery of what we profess.
The story told by a priest shows the need to let our actions speak for us and not merely our words.

One day a woman was caught up by the traffic light. Having waited for a while, she decided to quickly send a text. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she started typing, the light turned green and she was unaware of it. A little after that, she raised her eyes and discovered the light just turned red and she had missed her chance to go when it was green. Behind her was a man who was mad at her for her inattentiveness. He hooted his horn, cursed at her and then stuck out the third finger for her.

A law enforcement agent was behind this man. He immediately walked up to him and handcuffed him. Surprised the man asked what his crime was. The police officer asked for his papers, and after careful inspection unbound him. The man was furious and demanded to know why he had been handcuffed. As he persisted the policeman obliged and gave him this answer. When I looked from behind, I saw the rosary you had on your rear mirror; I saw the statue of the Holy Family on your dashboard, the stickers of St Michael the Archangel and other saints on your car. But the moment you acted the way you did towards that woman, my instinct told me that the car in front of me must have been stolen. That was why I made out to arrest you and was amazed the car belonged to you when I checked.

If the disciples that were sent out by Jesus did not live a life of witness, do you think they would have been able to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth as they did? May God keep us from scandals and help us to be true ambassadors of his name which we bear. Amen.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The world thirsts for authentic witnesses to the faith they profess. Why do you think there are many Churches all over and many who go by the name Christians, yet many of us are pagan at heart? Why are many baptized but few are truly Christians in practice? What do you think you could do as from today to make you are true Christian?

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