Fifteenth Sunday Homily of the Ordinary Time Year B

Fifteenth Sunday Homily of the Ordinary Time – Year B

Readings:

Amos 7:12-l5

Eph l:3-l4

Mk 6:7-l3

1st Reading – Amos 7:12-15

¹² Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying,

¹³ but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”

¹⁴ Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.

¹⁵ The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

⁹ I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD for he proclaims peace.
¹⁰ Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

¹¹ Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
¹² Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

¹³ The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
¹⁴ Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

2nd Reading – Ephesians 1:3-14

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,

⁴ as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love

⁵ he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will,

⁶ for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.

⁷ In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace

⁸ that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight,

⁹ he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor
that he set forth in him

¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.

¹¹ In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,

¹² so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

¹³ 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,

¹⁴ which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.

or Ephesians 1:3-10

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,

⁴ as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love

⁵ he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will,

⁶ for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.

⁷ In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace

⁸ that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight,

⁹ he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor
that he set forth in him

¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.

Alleluia – CF. Ephesians 1:17-18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
¹⁷ May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
¹⁸ that we may know what is the hope that
belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel – Mark 6:7-13

⁷ Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

⁸ He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

⁹ They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

¹⁰ He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave.

¹¹ Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.”

¹² So they went off and preached repentance.

¹³ The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Homily

With Stick, with Sandals, with Him

“He instructed them to take nothing on the journey but a walking stick”(Mk)

Sadhu Sundar Singh, a Sikh, was born in l889 in the village of Rampur in north India. He attended a mission school and was earlier fiercely anti-Christian. He reportedly burnt a Bible to protest against Christian teachings at school. One night he had a vision of Jesus asking him, “Why do you persecute me? I gave my life for you upon the cross!” Aged l6, he was baptized in the Anglican Church and became an itinerant preacher. Clothed in saffron, he walked from village to village preaching in parables about Jesus and his message. Sadhu Singh is an excellent example of what today’s gospel describes as our ‘pilgrim mission’.

Echoing last Sunday’s theme, prophet Amos from Judah in Israel’s southern kingdom is commissioned to preach an uncomfortable message to the priests of the northern shrine at Bethel. The first reading highlights the perennial conflict between prophet and priest, pilgrim and pastor, missionary and manager. While the prophet, pilgrim and missionary are always ‘on the move’ in the power of the Spirit, the priest, pastor and manager tend to uphold the status quo, protect the flock, manage institutions, and officiate at ceremonies. Amos (one of the earliest prophets around 8 BC.) is prototype of the former category, while Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, is representative of the second.

Keen to empower the establishment-“the king’s sanctuary and royal temple”-Amaziah is threatened by the presence and prophesying of Amos and cries: “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!” in today’s lingo, the priest simply tells the prophet, “Get lost! Go home!” indeed, right from the time of Socrates, prophets have been gadflies – unnerving and challenging to the fossilized, established order.

In today’s gospel Jesus calls his disciples not only to be prophets but also to be what can be termed ‘pilgrim missionaries’. If they are truly to be ‘on the move’ and committed to God’s ‘kingdom-movement’ then the disciples must be unencumbered by baggage. “Take nothing on the journey,” advises the Lord, “except walking stick and sandals.” Note that the only two requirements for missionary work are concerned with the feet; not stomach (bread), not body (clothes), not security (money).

Besides being prophets and pilgrims, Jesus tells his disciples that they’d be persecuted too. In his ‘Faith, Hope and Chastity’ Fr Desmond Forristal writes, “If the Church becomes part of the establishment, it’s not a good thing, because the Lord himself has said, ‘lf they persecuted me, they will persecute you,’ and if nobody’s persecuting us somewhere, sometime, about something, then maybe we’re not doing our job.”

The second reading from Paul ’5 letter to the Ephesians reminds us that “we have been called and chosen and sealed with the Spirit.” This choice, call, commissioning and consecration is surely an unmerited gift. But above all, it is a responsibility to be prophets and pilgrims always in danger of being persecuted. Is the Church truly prophetic, pilgrim, persecuted for the Lord’s sake?

Today’s readings call us to examine our missionary endeavours as individuals and as Church. In November 1982, as novices, we underwent what Jesuits term the ‘begging’ or ‘pilgrimage experiment’ walking for 15 clays begging for food and shelter. Such experiences and the padayatras of many Catholics to Marian shrines are but sporadic examples of a ‘pilgrim Church’. By and large, are we not ‘heavily laden’ with too many institutions and too much money?

Today, Christianity is being defamed by the media through movies like ‘Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Sacred Evil’. Have we responded wisely and effectively? Gandhiji said, “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” Jesus altered history with some ‘Twelve’ equipped with only walking sticks and sandals. Similarly, Sadhu Sunder Singh worked wonders in his times. Given the current anti-Christian movements, can’t We reorient our own movements that our sandals might fall in step with Him?