15th Sunday of Ordinary Time - July 12, 2009

(Lectionary #104)

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



We see in today’s readings, two examples of the Lord calling ordinary people to mission. In the Old Testament reading, we see the prophet Amos, telling off the priest of the northern kingdom of Israel. Amaziah is assuming that Amos is one of those “professional” prophets, who prophesy for pay. These prophets were probably trained on how to make prophesies more favorable to their clients. Amos declared that he was no professional, but a simple farmhand, a shepherd. A most common man, yet he was called by God to go out and proclaim His word; to go and confront a king and call him to account for his actions. He had no training, but the Lord gave him the words he was to speak.

God always seems to call the most ordinary of people, to do the most extraordinary actions. We see this in the gospel passage from Mark, which details the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles. Here we see Jesus calling the Twelve and sending them out to proclaim the Good News, to drive out demons, and heal the sick. Again these followers of Jesus were just ordinary people, fishermen, a tax collector, and other common men. Yet, because of God’s grace, God’s power, they were able to work wonders.

Many of us today, may assume that because Jesus commissioned the Twelve that the work of proclaiming the Gospel to the world is to be left to the bishops, the clergy and the religious; and we lay folk are off the hook. But we would be wrong. By virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation, all of us, ordained or lay, have been called by the Lord to make the Good News known to the world. We ordinary folk, by our words, but especially by the example of our lives, are to make known to everyone the healing love of God, to call everyone to change their lives and believe the Good News.