SCRIPTURE FOR EVERYDAY LIFE
                      15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Amos 7:12-15
      In today's reading, we hear how a man named Amos became a prophet.  Amos did not volunteer to be a spokesperson for God.  It was  God who chose him!  Amos, was a shepherd and caretaker of sycamore trees and God chose him to carry his message of salvation to the people of Israel.  Amos lived in Judah 780 years before the birth of Christ.  The powerful and affluent people of Israel were enjoying a great prosperity while the poor were getting poorer. 
     While the rich and powerful feasted upon the choicest foods, the poor were living in deplorable conditions.  The wealthy not only lied to-and cheated-the poor, they would often sell them into slavery to collect on debt.  Into this social injustice Amos proclaimed his message.  God would punish the evildoers if they continued their oppression of the poor.
     Amaziah, the king's chief Priest and top advisor, confronts Amos and orders him to leave the town of Bethel and never enter the royal sanctuary without the king's permission.  Amos defends himself, and relates that he is not a professional, nor a 'yes man,' like Amaziah.  Amos speaks the Word of God, not his own words or words that the king would rather hear.  He (Amos) was sent by Yahweh to denounce the injustice and evil treatment of their fellowmen.  He is obedient to God, not to an earthly king, and he warned the royalty and the wealthy that they would pay a dear price if they did not stop taking advantage of the poor. 
     Do our ears fall deaf to the cries of the poor?  Have you donated to your local homeless shelter or to various relief agencies that help the needy?  Or perhaps we find ourselves in that situation due to the current economic crisis.  "The Lord hears the cry of the poor...," sings the psalmist,"...Blessed be the Lord."  Let us be alert to the needs of others and become messengers for God just like Amos.  We are called to bring the love of God to others.  And if we are currently struggling to make ends meet, may we come together in community to pray to the Lord for help and trust that he will embrace us in his love and lead us to a deeper faith as well as to economic stability.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14
     In today's second reading, Paul gives thanks to God for choosing us to be followers of Jesus, "to be holy" and to be "full of love."  Our duty as followers of Jesus Christ is to let others know of our Father's love that comes to us in the power of Jesus Christ.  This is a beautiful reading as it opens with a prayer praising what God has done for his chosen people.
     Ephesus was a Roman province in Asia Minor.  In his three years there, Paul had made many converts and the Christian faith took hold and flourished.  In fact, so numerous were the Christian converts in Ephesus and the surrounding communities, that when the Christians stopped buying tributes and statues to offer up to the pagan gods- the merchants who had lost sales held a protest meeting against Paul; but it was to no avail, as Paul and his fellow Christians were left alone.  In 57 A.D., Paul left Ephesus and traveled to Jerusalem.  It was there that Paul was arrested and imprisoned.  From Jerusalem, Paul was taken to Rome, where he was kept in prison for two years.  It was while he was imprisoned in Rome that he wrote this letter to his converts to remind them to continue to be faithful to the teachings he had given them. 
     God chose them to be his people before the world began, Paul wrote.  They are to be considered privileged to be called into his plan of salvation, Paul continued.  Since they were privileged to be called by God, then they must also serve him.  They must respond to God in faith and commit themselves to Christ and his teachings.
 Paul's letter might be summed up in a few sentences: In his love for us, God our Father planned to be make us his children before time began.  By the Incarnation of his only Son, who became one like us (except without sin), he changed our whole world.  We have been given eternal life.  This is the marvelous gift given to us.  This is the universal rtedemption!
     Through the gift of God's greace, we have an eternity of happiness awaiting us.  Our response must be to praise God for this wonderful gift and to be the messengers of this Good News to others.  By the example of our lives, we must gather into the fold those who are lost and those who are blind to the goodness of God and alert them to the marvelous gift of the new life that awaits us.  "I will listen for the word of God; surely the Lord will proclaim peace to his people...to those who trust in him..."-Psalm 85:9

Gospel: Mark 6:7-13
     In the Gospel, we hear Jesus' instructions to his apostles as he sends them out as missionaries to share the Good News with others.  There to let nothing get in their way or to hinder their mission.  They are to rely on the goodness of the  very people to whom they are sent and they were to place absolute trust in God's providence.  God would see to it that they would be provided with the necessities of life.
     If a house or a village refused to accept them and their message, they were to wipe the dust off of their sandals.  Those inhospitable villaged would be no better than the pagans.  The apostles were to preach the same message that John the Baptist had preached prior to the arrival of Jesus-the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In our liturgy we hear, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."  Christ is truly returning one day and we must all be prepared to leave with him.
     Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins, to heal the sick and to expel demons.  When Jesus sent them out on their mission, it was in imitation of his own life of service.  Slowly, the apostles learned to imitate their Master/Teacher.  They learned that they were not empowered with a sense of superiority or dominance over the people to whom they ministered, but rather with a deep humility they were to serve others, treating them with dignity, equality and respect.  In so doing, they would win them over to the way of Christ, whose primary message is to "love one another."  That, also, is our mission.

-Sunday, July 12, 2009