15th Sunday Year B, July 11, 2021

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, grant us the grace to realise that for us to be truly messengers of God, we must learn to detach ourselves from our own interests, and then manifest the goodness of God with the acts of charity, service and dedication as we preach God's message as apostles sent by Christ Jesus into the world.

Happy Sunday!

                   

 

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Amos 7,12-15; Ephesian 1,3-14; John 6, 7-13: 15th Sunday Year B, July 11, 2021)

On this Sunday, the liturgy offers us the Gospel episode of Jesus sending the Twelve on mission. This text is prepared from the first reading, which speaks of the mission of the prophet Amos. The second reading is a splendid text, with a very rich content, which speaks of our Christian vocation.

In today's Gospel, Jesus takes the initiative to send the twelve apostles on a mission. It is an initiative that has no parallel in the Old Testament. In fact, it never happens that a prophet chooses a certain number of disciples and sends them on a mission. It is a significant initiative, because it shows that Jesus wants collaborators for his mission. He could do it all by himself. As a Son of God, he has all the capabilities. But he came, precisely, to share in our existence, and make us share his mission. Here an aspect of Jesus' love is manifested: he does not disdain the help that other men can bring to his mission. He knows their limitations, and weaknesses, but he does not despise them, on the contrary he confers the dignity of being his envoys on them. The term apostle in fact means sent. It is because they were sent by Jesus that the Twelve received the title of apostles. Jesus sends them two by two and gives instructions, which the evangelist summarises in a few sentences. The first concerns the spirit of detachment: the apostles must neither be attached to money, nor comforts, they must not be attached to anything. Jesus tells us that they should take nothing for the journey: no bread, no saddlebag, no money in the bag. This attitude of complete detachment is very important, because, if a person is attached to his own interests, he cannot be truly a messenger of God's love. The Church has always had this attitude, which corresponds to an evangelical beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Jesus then warns the disciples that they will not always receive positive welcome: sometimes they will be rejected; indeed, they may even be persecuted. But this must not deter them: it is a reality that falls within their destiny. They must speak in the name of Jesus, preach the kingdom of God, but without being concerned about success.

The first reading presents us with the same perspective, showing us that those sent by God are often not well received. This is the case of the prophet Amos, sent by God to prophesy in the sanctuary of Bethel, a sanctuary of the kingdom of Israel. Amos preaches with great energy against injustice. But this is neither liked by the powerful, nor the priests of the sanctuary, because his words have the negative effect of driving people away from the sanctuary. Therefore, Amaziah priest of Bethel, orders him: Go away, seer, retire to the land of Judah; you will eat your bread and you will be able to prophesy, but prophesy no more in Bethel, for this is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom [of Israel. Amos replies that it was not he who chose this mission, but this mission was given to him by the Lord, who took him from behind the cattle and said to him: Go, prophesy to my people Israel. So, whether he is well received or rejected, he will continue to prophesy. Similarly, in the Gospel, the Twelve, if they are not well received, must show their detachment. Jesus recommends to them: If somewhere they do not receive you and listen to you, while going away shake the dust from under your feet (to show that you have not really sought anything for yourself, you do not want to take anything for yourself), as a testimony for them. The other very important indication of the Gospel passage is that the Twelve cannot be satisfied with preaching only conversion: care for the sick must be added to the task of preaching, according to the instructions and example given by Jesus. In fact, the Gospel tells us that the apostles anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. The apostolic mission must always include the two aspects of preaching the word of God and manifesting the goodness of God with acts of charity, service and dedication.

The second reading shows us the fruitfulness of the mission of the Twelve. In this passage from the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives thanks to God because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven, in Christ. The mission of the Twelve was the beginning of a much broader mission, which took place after Jesus’ resurrection, and of a richer preaching, which made us aware of divine generosity. The mystery of Christ, in fact, manifests God's infinite love for us. And all those who have responded positively to the apostolic preaching must be filled with gratitude to God. Their very life must be a hymn of thanksgiving, because they have received so many spiritual riches. God does not improvise his gifts, but prepares them in time. Paul reminds us that in him [Christ] God chose us before the creation of the world. God's original plan was to communicate his grace to man; for this he created the world. The most important creatures of God in the world are human persons, who are called to become holy and immaculate in the sight of God in love. God the Father, full of mercy, created us to be able to communicate his love to us and make us live in love in union with him. The glory of God, in fact, is the glory of loving; and our existence, as Paul says, must be to the praise and glory of his grace, and gratuitous love, which he offered us in his beloved Son. This gratuitous love of God has brought about redemption, the salvation of sinners. In the blood of Christ, we obtain the remission of sins, according to the richness of his generous love, abundantly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. God did not content himself with pouring out the abundance of his love upon us, but he also shared his knowledge with us, in order to make him share his life more intimately and fully. Our Christian existence is full of promises and hope, because we have been made heirs, we are predestined to live, fully and eternally, in communion with God.

In the end Paul explains that the Christians from among the people of Israel were the first beneficiaries of this immense love of God, but that now even the pagans are fully reached by this plan of God. The mission of the apostles puts great joy and trust in our hearts and pushes us to give thanks. Therefore, the atmosphere of our Christian life must be that of immense gratitude to God because his grace was superabundant for us, and we will never be able to receive it in all its fullness. However, we must always ensure that we make progress in this regard. +John I. Okoye

                                                      

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