Homily For The 15th Sunday In Ordinary Time Year B.

Amos 7:12-15; Psalm 85:9-14; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13.

“THE CALL TO MISSION!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide

• Today the church celebrates the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. Today is a special Sunday of thanksgiving to God for the gift of life, friends, family, and all people of goodwill. There is no better way to express this thanksgiving to God than to be in the presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

• There is a common saying that “a church that has no missionary plans will suddenly go into extinction”. From the beginning, Jesus has always been a missionary – he went about from place to place gathering new converts and disciples from whom he chose twelve Apostles to continue the missionary mandate after his ascension into heaven.

• Friends in Christ, notice that while Jesus picked his disciples randomly after intense prayers for 40 days and nights, he did not just send them out just like that, he prepared them by letting them understand him, and while studying him, he revealed to them the rudiments and the challenges of mission.

• In the same vein, in today’s gospel reading (Mark 6:7-13), Jesus calls out to the 12 Apostles and gives them charge and authority for the mission. While on a mission they were to go in twos, carrying nothing for the journey, as missionaries, they were to depend on their mission for sustenance, hence, they were to stay in whatever house they entered. And finally, he reminded them to shake off the dust of their feet in the houses where they are rejected as a testimony against them.

• We draw a few lessons from the gospel reading; that God is a God of mission. When God sends you on a mission, he provides for the mission through the people. He sent them out in twos telling us that if we want to travel fast, we can go alone but if we want to travel far, we should go in the company of others. Yes, the journey to heaven may be an individual one, but it is most consoling and encouraging if we travel as companions.

• Jesus charged them to take nothing for the journey except their staff of authority and shepherding. The call to mission is a serious one that must be responded to with immediate alacrity. And experience has shown that if we want to travel far and fast, we must learn to travel light. We must free ourselves from attachment to material things and worldly distractions and focus on the divine who has called us and will provide for us.

• Jesus also prepared their minds for resistance and rebellion, he charged them to shake off the dust of their feet as testimony against the households that will reject them and their message. No wonder the world is continuously hostile to the message of salvation because not many people are willing to be challenged to repentance and salvation.

• In the first reading (Amos 7:12-15), the prophet Amos experienced his share of rejection from the most unlikely person – Amaziah the priest of Bethel. He said to him “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there…” (Amos 7:12). By the statement of Amaziah, we see his motive for the mission. While the motive of Amaziah was dubious, that of Amos was pure and intent upon God. Amaziah saw prophecy as a means to livelihood, and Amos saw it as a privilege to serve God and his people. He had to abandon his profession for the prophetic vocation. 

• Dearly beloved in Christ, the encounter between Amaziah and Amos challenges us to always "test the waters" because not all who claim to be inspired by God truly are. Some are there for selfish purposes, no wonder Scripture says “By their fruit, we shall know them” (Matt. 7:16).

• If Amos the prophet was rejected by a priest, how much more we who live in this world? As part of the challenge of the mission that we have been called into, we must also prepare for resistance and rejection knowing that the God who has called us will always supply us with the necessary grace.

• In talking about graces, St. Paul in writing to the Ephesians in our second reading (Ephesians 1:3-14), reminds us Christians that we have been blessed in Christ and given the necessary graces to carry on our missionary mandate.

• Dearly beloved, God who has called us to mission, expects us to blossom wherever we have been planted and to do exceedingly well. But the truth is that many of us have failed in that mandate, we have compromised for fear of losing friends and fame. We have chosen to stand with the world rather than stand with God. All hope is not lost, because God is a God of second chances, he allows us to begin again.

• For the many times we have betrayed the Lord’s missionary mandate on us Christians, we must turn to him and resolve to make a fresh start and like the psalmist say, “let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation (Ps. 85:8).

• May the good Lord bless his word in our hearts through Christ our Lord, Amen!

• Happy Sunday!!!