| Readings: | Amos 7:12-15 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:7-13 |
| Date: | July 14, 2024, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B |
Have you ever heard anyone say something like, the Bible was written so long ago, and for such a different culture, it really doesn't have any relevance today?
I offer you today's readings as a direct refutation of that kind thinking. Let's start with the prophet Amos who lived in the 8th Century before Jesus was born. Along with Hosea, these 8th century prophets signal a shift in the prophets God sends to Israel. Up to this time, God sent prophets to bring his message to individuals. Think of the prophet Nathan and King Saul and then King David. Both Amos and Hosea were sent by God to bring a message to the entire people of Israel, at a time of relative peace and prosperity in both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judea. In particular, Amos who had been born and raised in the southern kingdom of Judea was sent by God to warn the people of the northern kingdom of Israel that God was displeased with how they are acting.. Amos delivers two main messages that are linked together. His first message is against the social injustice practices: trampling on the poor like they were dirt , exploiting the weak and crushing the needy , extorting unfair taxes from the poor , taking bribes and denying justice to the needy, and stealing from the people in the marketplace. The second part of his message was what we might call religious sins, the failure to follow Mosaic law: these included, among other things, worshiping false gods , doing acts of worship while their heart is far from God, and traveling to cultic sites to worship false gods.
Any of this sound relevant to our lives today? And notice that God did not send a 'professional' prophet to deliver his message to the people of Israel. Amos was not trained as a prophet; he was a shepherd and a farmer, and he lived in the southern kingdom. God sending him to Bethel in the northern kingdom was like sending a Yankee fan to Boston to deliver God's warning. So the passage we heard today is about what we would expect but as God said to the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading from last week, saying to Ezekiel, deliver my message to them and And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house— they shall know that a prophet has been among them.
Fast forward 750 years and Jesus in today's Gospel is sending out his Apostles 2 by 2 to bring his message to the people of Israel. We know these 12 men as the apostles but at the time Jesus is sending them out they are just a bunch of ordinary people, fishermen, a tax collector. They have no formal training as prophets. Yet Jesus trusted them to preach his message of repentance and hope in the kingdom of heaven.
Much of what God sent Amos to prophesize against sounds very familiar here in America in 2024, doesn't it? People who either knowingly exploit the poor or otherwise disadvantaged, or a oblivious to the plight of the poor while they enjoy a more comfortable life. Unequal taxes for those who are rich and those who struggle to feed their families or pay for the medical care. How about taking bribes or denying justice to the needy. And we could go on and on.
Who will God chose to send as his prophets today? How many people here today have been chosen as prophets by God and sent to speak his truth to our culture? Of course I could ask that same question a slightly different way: how many people here have been baptized in the Catholic Church? The answer to both of those questions is exactly the same. All of us who were baptized Catholics were anointed during their baptism as priests, prophets, and kings. That anointing is what makes us Christians, which literally means those who are anointed from the Greek word for sacred oil: Chrism. So we were initiated as prophets at our baptism. But as with any responsibility or job or mission that is really important, in order to carry out that responsibily we have to keep renewing our commitment to carry it out. And for us Catholics that is what Eucharist is all about. That is why we classify Eucharist, or participating at Mass, as one of the three sacraments of initiation. When we participate fully, actively, and consciously in Mass, we are more fully initiated into our roles as priest, prophet, and king. In fact the name Mass is derived from that reality. At the end of Mass, the deacon or the presider if no deacon is present, says to all who have just celebrated the Eucharist with him, Go the Mass is ended. I would suggest that this is probably one of the most misleading and misunderstood translations in the Mass. In Latin, the priest or deacon would say, Ite Missa Est. The word Mass is a linguistic variation of that word Missa.
The literal sense of the Latin phrase is: Go, it is sent. There is no one approved exact meaning but many of the interpretations throughout the centuries rest on the connection between the words missa and mission. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains its meaning as "the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (mission) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives" (CCC 1332)". Somewhere along the line, I heard a more succinct phrasing of that as Go, the missioning has been accomplished. In other words, the deepening of our baptismal incorporation into the body of Christ that happens during Mass inspires us to go out from Mass to be the body of Christ out in the world. We are sent as priest, prophet, and king into the world to help God complete Jesus' mission of bringing the Kingdom of God into full reality here on earth as it already is in heaven.
So in a little while, when you hear, Go the Mass is ended, Proclaim the Gospel of the Lord, my prayer is that you understand that Ite Missa Est is meant for you, and you, and me. Go and speak God's truth so that whether people heed it or not, they will at least know that a prophet is among them.