In today’s Gospel, the Twelve – each of whom has been called personally by Jesus – are given the title of apostle – “one who is sent.” These unlikely candidates for such a task are carefully prepared and taught by Jesus for this moment. They undertake their first preaching and healing tour depending only on God for their inspiration and on the charity of others for their needs -- remember that hospitality was considered a sacred responsibility in the east: it was not up to the stranger to seek hospitality but up to the prospective host to offer it.
HOMILY POINTS:
Like the Twelve’s journey through the region of Galilee, our lives are journeys to the reign of God. Each step of the journey can be a moment of grace, of encounter with the holy, of rebirth and transformation, of healing. God calls all of us to the vocation of prophet (“one who proclaims”) and disciple (“one who follows, one who comprehends”). Like God’s call to the Amoses and Ezekiels, to the Peters and Andrews of Scripture, ours is a call to proclaim our faith in our places of work, study and play, to follow Christ in his vision of justice, peace and reconciliation.
Jesus instructs his missioners to “travel light” – to focus on the journey and the ministry with which they have been entrusted, not with accumulating wealth, status and power.
In our hospitality and welcome to those who come to our doors, we joyfully profess our faith in Christ, the Servant of God, and our hope to realize his vision of one human family under the loving providence of the Father.
Walking sticks
She begins her program with Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. Her fingers dance over the frets of her guitar with the quiet confidence of her years of practice and study. She next plays into an Irish air, then a Bob Dylan folk song and finally a jazz improvisation of her own creation. She plays for an audience of one: a 70-year-old woman dying of cancer. The venue: the dying woman’s room at the local hospice. Music is her ministry, providing a measure of peace and tranquility for those taking the last steps from this world into eternity.
Most spring and summer nights, as soon as he gets home from the office, he heads to his small garden behind the garage. This quarter-acre is his favorite place on earth. He grows tomatoes, beans and corn. He saves a few things for his own family; he shares the rest of the harvest of the good earth with needy families served by the local soup kitchen and pantry.
She suffered from bulimia as a teenager. Thanks to her wise and caring family, she overcame this devastating disease. Now a mother herself, she read about a support group for girls suffering from eating disorders. Every week she is there. She says very little; she is there to listen and to support, and when asked one-on-one by a girl who is terrified at what is happening to her, she offers the hope of her own story.
With their “walking sticks” — guitars, vegetable seeds, and their own stories and experiences — these three and so many others like them realize that Christ has sent them forth, like the Twelve in today’s Gospel, to be his prophets of peace, apostles of compassion, ministers of healing. Aware of God’s love in our own lives, we are called to bring that love into the lives of others in a spirit of humility and gratitude. As we make our own journey from this world to the next, may we heal the broken and help the stumbling we meet along our way in faithfulness to the God who heals us and helps us up when we stumble and fall.
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From Fr. Jude Botelho:
In today's first reading we are told that Amos spoke out against the evil practices that people indulged in daily life, while at the same time keeping up the external religious practices. The local temple priest Amaziah speaks out against Amos and asks him to go back home. Amos was opposed because his message struck home; he was opposed because he himself being poor spoke of the evil that stemmed from riches and greed. Amos' humble answer was that he was no professional prophet, he was a simple herdsman, but he was prophesying because the Lord called him and asked him to speak in His name. True prophets are not self-appointed, nor are they appointed by popular choice but are called by God alone to fulfill this mission. Today too those who speak in the name of religion are not accepted.
His religion ought to come out of his fingers
A minister was being shown through a section of a Detroit automobile factory by the foreman. Among the workers was a parishioner of the minister, a fellow named John. Knowing that John was a skilled mechanic the minister remarked, "I guess John is one of your best workers." "Sorry to disagree," replied the foreman. "True, he could be one of our best, but John stands around talking about his religion, when he should be attending to his machine. Personally, he is a fine fellow, and he is a good man when he works, but he still has to learn that when he is running that machine, his religion ought to come out of his fingers and not out of his mouth."
Msgr. Drinkwater
In the gospel we see Jesus giving instructions to the twelve as he sends them out on their mission. We are reminded that he first called them and then he sent them out two by two and gave them authority as they went forth. Thereby we are reminded that coming to Jesus precedes going out in His name. If we have not come to Jesus then we do not receive His power and authority and Spirit. The rhythm of the Christian life is summarized in the two words: 'Come' and 'Go.' We come in prayer and contemplation to the Lord in order to go out in loving service. As Jesus sends the disciples on their mission he warns them about what to expect, that they will not always be accepted by the people. They have to remember that the message is not to be forced on people. Faith is always an invitation to believe, not a command that has to be obeyed. What is especially noteworthy of the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples before he sent them, is that he does not mention anything of what they were to say, rather, he stresses the kind of lives they should live. What Jesus is thereby driving home is the fact that the witness of their life will be the greatest sermon they will ever deliver. He does not want professionals who have honed in their skills but people who live what they believe. The disciples must give witness to their own faith by what they do, and what they hold precious, thus by their example they will lead people to the kingdom of God. Jesus thus emphasizes the attitudes that they should have in their life and the values that should guide their day-to-day living rather than the doctrine that they should preach. At times we tend to shirk our responsibility to live our prophetic calling saying that we are not good speakers, that we do not have leadership qualities, and that we don't have any experience. God needs us as we are, and where we are now, not our capabilities, and our future plans!
Friend, Lend Me Your Hands!
The Korean war was raging and a little village came under artillery fire. In the village stood a Catholic Church and outside the church mounted on a pedestal, there was a fine statue of Christ. However when the smoke of battle cleared away, the statue had disappeared. It had been blown off its pedestal and lay in fragments on the ground. A group of American soldiers helped the priest to dig out and collect up the bits and pieces. Carefully they helped him to put the statue together again. They found all the pieces except the hands. They offered to have the statue flown back to America and have hands made for it. But the priest refused. "I have a better idea," he said. "Let's leave it as it is without the hands. And let's write on the pedestal for all passersby to see the words: FRIEND, LEND ME YOUR HANDS. In that way we may get them to see that Christ has no hands but ours with which to raise the fallen. He has no feet but ours to seek the lost. He has no ears but ours to listen to the lonely. He has no tongue but ours to speak words of sympathy, of comfort, and of encouragement to those weighed down by sorrow, pain and failure".
Flor McCarthy in 'Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies'
"We Christians, bishops, priests and people, in our manifold ways are called to be disciples, often as healers and teachers, sometimes as reluctant prophets as Amos. But I wonder if we carry too much baggage. It's not merely the things that we stuff in our luggage or carry along with our entourage. It may be all the excess trappings of power, privilege and money. It may be crusty ideology and pet theories. As an old woman from North Saint Louis used to say: "I'd rather see a sermon lived than talked."
John Kavanaugh in 'The Word Encountered'
Be the Prophet!
One winter's day a man came upon a small boy sitting begging on a wind-swept city bridge. The boy was shivering from the cold and obviously in need of a good meal. On seeing him the man got very angry and said to God: "God why don't you do something about this boy?" And God replied, "I have already done something about him." This surprised the man so he said, "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but whatever you did, it doesn't seem to be working." "I agree with you there," replied God. "By the way, what did you do?" the man asked. "I made you" came the reply. -There is nothing wrong in asking God to right wrongs and comfort the suffering. But we must remember that he has entrusted these tasks to us.
Flor McCarthy, in 'New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies'
My Father Owns the Shop!
There was a programme on American television where three or four people were given trolleys in a supermarket and given a certain time to fill them with groceries. The winner was decided as the one who had the highest bill at the checkout. A whistle blew and the stampede began! They bumped into each other; items missed the trolley as they were thrown from a distance. When the time was up and they made their way to have their goodies checked, they looked into each others’ trolleys, they saw the things they had missed, they were annoyed with themselves at some of their stupid choices etc. Now let me present that scenario again, except this time we give the trolley to a committed Christian. We have the whistle, the stampede and everything all over again, except that our Christian friend is seen to act very differently. He strolls along at ease. He put a loaf of bread, some milk, butter, and sugar in his trolley. He picks up an item that fell from one of the other trolleys and put it in the trolley. The final whistle blows and they arrive at the check point. Immediately our friend gets every one's attention. Their first reaction is a combination of mockery, puzzlement, and anger. One of them said, "Who let you out? Did no body tell you what this is all about? Why are you laid-back, and why didn't you go for it, like the rest of us? The young man smiled and replied, "My Father owns the supermarket!"-Being out there in the world, giving Christian witness, is supposed to make a major difference!
Jack McArdle, in 'And that's the Gospel truth'
Trust in God
Once a knight set out on a long journey. He tried to foresee all the possible problems and dangers he was likely to encounter, and to take precautions against them. He took a sword and a suit of armour in case he met an enemy. He took a jar of ointment to guard against sunburn. He took an axe to chop wood for a fire at night. He took a tent and several blankets. He took pots and pans for cooking. And of course he took a sack full of oats for his horse. Thus heavily laden, he set forth. However, he hadn't gone very far when he came to a rickety old bridge which straddled a deep gorge. He was only halfway across when the bridge collapsed under him, and he fell into the gorge and got killed.- When Jesus sent out his apostles he urged them to place complete confidence in God and not in things. God would take care of their needs.
Flor McCarthy, in 'New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies'
Your Contribution is Important!
The mayor of a certain town decided to hold a harvest festival. All, without exception, were invited. The mayor himself offered to provide the food. To ensure that there would be adequate wine, each guest was asked to bring along a bottle of white wine. The wine would be poured into a huge cask from which all could drink. The day of the festival arrived. Everyone in town showed up. Thanks to the generosity of the mayor, there was an abundance of food. Each guest duly arrived with a bottle of wine and poured it into the cask. When all was ready the mayor went to the cask. An aide tapped it and filled the mayor's glass. Holding up the glass, the mayor said, 'I declare the festival open.' Then he took a drink out of the glass only to discover that it was not wine but water. It seems that each guest had argued like this: 'My contribution won't be missed.' So instead of bringing a bottle of wine they had brought a bottle of water. The festival was ruined! It is a great challenge to us all to be active, not passive followers of Christ; to be not only receivers but also givers. Something is asked of every person. And everybody's contribution, no matter how small, is important. For the forest to be green the individual trees must be green.
Anthony Castle in 'Quotes and Anecdotes'
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From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1) Why not the Best?
Jimmy Carter, the former president, in his autobiography, Why not the Best? shares an incident that made him aware of his failure in his mission to bear witness to Christ by evangelizing. Each year the congregation of
2: Gideon’s army and Jesus’ fishermen:
“Friend, lend me your hands.” During the Korean War, a small Korean village came under heavy artillery fire. When the smoke of the battle cleared away, the pastor of the parish sought the help of some American soldiers in restoring to its pedestal a fallen statue of Christ. Since the statue’s hands were gone, the soldiers planned to mould two new hands. The pastor, however, came up with a very meaningful suggestion: “Let us leave the statue as it is and write on the front of the pedestal the words, FRIEND, LEND ME YOUR HANDS." Sending his apostles as his ambassadors to preach the “good news” and to heal the sick, Jesus, in today’ gospel, reminds us that he has no hands but ours to raise the fallen; no feet but ours to seek out the lost; no ears but ours to listen to the lonely; and no tongue but ours to speak words of sympathy and encouragement to those weighed down by sorrow, pain and failure.
Additional anecdotes 5) The undelivered message: George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near
An angel spoke directly to Gideon (Judges 6: 11-25), the fourth judge of the Israelites in the 12th century B.C. This two-way conversation is recorded in detail and comprises the commissioning of Gideon to be a deliverer and “Judge” of God's people. The angel of the Lord came to meet Gideon under the oak tree at Ophrah with specific instructions for a raid on the Midianites who were the controlling force in the land, fielding a unique and fast-moving camel battalion. They forcefully reaped all the grain of the Israelites during the harvest season for seven years. Gideon protested that his clan, Manasseh, was the weakest in the nation. But God gave the assurance to Gideon, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them" (v 16). Gideon asked for a sign from God and God graciously gave it to convince Gideon that it was God who was sending him to fight and it was God who would be fighting for him. In Judges 7:2-11 God gave additional instruction to Gideon and asked him to send home those soldiers who were afraid to fight a strong and big army. That reduced the number of soldiers in Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000. But it was still too many in God’s sight. God further instructed Gideon to conduct a water-drinking test in the river which eliminated 9700 more soldiers leaving behind only 300 soldiers of God’s selection. The story of Gideon's calling was about strategy: "Go in my strength." The Midianites had a force of 135,000 men with them when they invaded
3: “Let people hear it”:
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But tohis great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. "Could I play the instrument once before it is consigned to silence?" he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. "I have no right to keep this violin to myself," he exclaimed. "It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it." Jesus gives us the same instruction the collector
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But tohis great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. "Could I play the instrument once before it is consigned to silence?" he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. "I have no right to keep this violin to myself," he exclaimed. "It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it." Jesus gives us the same instruction the collector
From Father James Gilhooley
A pastor bankrupt his parish giving away wood to the poor to bring warmth to their homes in bitter winter. When he had no money left, he sold the rectory Chippendale dining room furniture for more wood. He was ridiculed by his peers for being a bad administrator. He was embraced by Christ on his death.
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From Sermons.Com:
In the opera Faust, there is a fight to the finish between Satan and the young man Valentine. During the course of the fight, Satan breaks Valentine's sword and he stands poised to slay him. But the young boy takes the two pieces of his sword and fashions them into a cross. Confronted with this symbol of faith, Satan becomes immobilized and Valentine is saved.
It is an interesting concept: A dramatic demonstration of faith. Unfortunately such resolution of faith does not always save you. In fact, it might be your deathbed. It was John's. Take a look at the story with me. John has been arrested by King Herod. And why? Because John kept reminding Herod that even the king is not above the law. He said, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
So this was the king's egregious sin. He had stolen his brother's wife, Herodias. Now, it would be understandable if this were where the story ended. The king didn't like a desert preacher calling him a sinner so he had him beheaded. Simple enough. But life is not always simple...
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This summer saw the "resurrection" of an old tale of family rivalry and betrayal. The show that started an industry of prime time "soap operas" is back on the air. Do you know show I'm talking about? . . . . Dallas.
The ever-evil "J.R." Ewing and all his battling, back-biting, embittered family have returned, with new generations, all of whom are admirably carrying on the family tradition of unabated greed and hatred. Added to yet another season of "Kardashians" and the History channel's presentation of "The Hatfields and the McCoys," "family life" is looking pretty grim. That is not even to mention the recent scientific study that put a question mark over the value of nightly meals together as a family. It found that eating together on a regular basis could be bad, not good for teenagers, if the family is dysfunctional. The family routine of eating together is very good for you if the family dynamics are good, very bad for you if the family dynamics are dysfunctional.
l air-wave examples of families operating at "dysfunction junction" cannot hold a candle to the massive relational meltdown that was taken as "normal" within the first century ruling family of the Herodians...
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Who's the Boss?
The boss was complaining in our staff meeting the other day that he wasn't getting any respect. Later that morning he went to a local sign shop and bought a small sign that read:
"I'm the Boss!" He then taped it to his office door. Later that day when he returned from lunch, he found that someone had taped a note to the sign that said: "Your wife called, she wants her sign back!"
John loses his head but gains the kingdom. Herod saved his face but lost his soul. Here there is another triumph in the midst of suffering. John's martyrdom is not a defeat. Twelve more preachers are sent in his place. Ironically even Herod suspected that John would ultimately triumph when he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"
Soren Kierkegaard said, "The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins." God raises the dead and raises new witnesses to take their place.
Jim Hammond, Christ Rules, Herod Drools!
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Evil Does Not Win
Yes, there are times that we wonder about God. It is true there is horrible evil out there. There are evil people - the sociopaths, the mass murders, the vicious child and spouse abusers. There are evil moments when otherwise good people are drawn in - that scene played over and over on TV several years ago of a dozen police officers beating and kicking a wounded suspect. There are evil systems in which we all participate - people going without food and shelter in a nation of abundance, people not getting medical care because of no other reason than lack of money (and greedy insurance companies). There are even evils born of sheer stupidity, like the stupid promise Herod made to Salome. Do you remember the novelist William Burroughs? Burroughs died at age 83. During a drunken party in Mexico one night in 1951, he undertook to play William Tell - he used a pistol to shoot a glass off his wife's head. He missed...and put a bullet in her brain instead. How stupid. How evil. Yes, it often seems that the evil wins.
But the message of our faith says that evil does not have the last word. God does, and the word is "love."
David E. Leininger, When Evil Wins
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Vengeance: A Wound on Our Own Souls
When I was in high school, a friend of mine was raped and if I had known at the time who had done it, I would have attempted to beat him within an inch of his life. I even had some terrible fantasies of vengeance that involved very sharp knives. These feelings seem more than a desire for justice. If my friend had to go through life with a deep psychological wound, I wanted the assailant to feel some kind of pain too.
I could convince myself of noble intentions to protect someone I loved, or that the perpetrator would never again harm someone. But in honesty, I felt an inner rage that wanted satisfaction. There was a desire that somehow the pain and brokenness could be healed or assuaged by inflicting it back on the source. Of course, things never work out that way. Hurting another person cannot heal the person we love. It only pulls us down to the level of the perpetrator. The act of vengeance creates wounds on our own souls. It is a great spiritual challenge to live in a world where things cannot always be made right again.
Todd Weir, Head on a Platter
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Naming What Is Wrong
Once when I was a little girl, I saw news footage in which grown men and women screamed and ranted at another little girl outside a school in Mississippi. When the newsman said that she was 12, my age at the time, something inside me broke. In my sheltered world, so-called colored children and white children had always gone to the same schools, and grown-ups didn't threaten kids. "Why are they yelling at her like that?" I asked my mother in tears. "She's only a little girl." My mother made the sigh adults make when children learn things no one should have to learn. "Because they're ignorant," she said finally, my family's catch-all phrase for explaining things that will never make sense. It wasn't enough of an explanation, and that was a first lesson, too.
But the real lesson was that doing good and right things cannot protect you from being badly hurt. There is real danger in naming what is wrong in the world and trying to change it.
Why is this awful story even mentioned in the Bible? Well, it just might be that some of us who try to follow Christ have been following too safe a course, sitting in mighty comfortable seats at the banquet, so much so that we need this awful story to help us ask if we are following the One whose way was full of danger and whose final destination was a cross.
Catherine Taylor, Re-Membering Faith
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A Christian Understanding of Worth
When we attempt to live a life worthy of the Gospel it is because our understanding of "worth" is far different from the world's. John the Baptist was not beheaded because he went along with the status quo. John gave his life because of his commitment to truth as he understood it, much like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his struggles with Nazism and Hitler. Being a pastor in the German Lutheran Church, Bonhoeffer was forced to choose between his loyalty to God or to an insane ruler. He was executed in 1945 for the opposition he voiced to the satanic rule of Hitler.
As G.K. Chesterton so concisely wrote: "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but tried and found difficult." Life has many roads to travel. However, we choose the road on which the shadow of the cross falls. It always leads to freedom and to victory when the final lap of the race is run. Some 2000 years later, we speak of the reigns of the Herods and Caesars with pity and disdain, but the names of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ live on as those for whom life was lived with devotion and courage.
Eric S. Ritz, Faith in Conflict
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Public Pressure
Lloyd J. Ogilve, in his book Life without Limits, tells the story of a pastor who in the space of one week heard the following comments from various people:
A woman said, "I'm under tremendous pressure from my son these days. I can't seem to satisfy him, however hard I work. He really puts me under pressure."
A young man said, "My parents have fantastic goals for me to take over the family business. It's not what I want to do, but their pressure is unbearable."
A college woman said, "I'm being pressured by my boyfriend to live with him before we are married. You know...sort of try it out...to see if we are right for each other."
A husband said, "My wife is never satisfied. Whatever I do, however much I make, it's never enough. Life with her is like living in a pressure cooker with the lid fastened down and the heat on high."
A secretary said, pointing to her phone, "That little black thing is driving me silly. At the other end of the line are people who make impossible demands and think they are the only people alive."
A middle-aged wife said, "My husband thinks my faith is silly. When I feel his resistance to Christ, I wonder if I'm wrong and confused. As a result, I've developed two lives; one with him and one when I'm with my Christian friends."
An elderly woman said, "My sister thinks she has all the answers about the faith and tries to convince me of her point of view. I feel pressured to become her brand of Christian, but I keep thinking if it means being like her, I don't want it at all. When she calls, I just put the phone on my shoulder and let her rant on while I do other things. A half-hour later, she's still on the line blasting away, but I still feel pressure."
A young pastor at a clergy conference said, "I hardly know who I am any more. There are so many points of view in my congregation, I can't please them all. Everyone wants to capture me for his camp and get me to shape the church around his convictions. The pressure makes me want to leave the ministry."
All of these persons have one thing in common. They are being pressured by other people. We all, at one time or another, experience people-pressure. The question is how will it effect our judgment? That is the question Herod faced. After making an oath to a pretty young girl that she could have up to half of his kingdom, she surprised him and asked for the head of the Baptist. Mark 6:26 indicates that the King was thrown into distress, he knew it was wrong, but because of his oath and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. He sent the executioner and on a platter was delivered the head of a holy man.
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Responding to Biblical Mandates
Responding to Biblical Mandates
William Sloane Coffin, Jr., who died at the age of 81, was an honored scholar, civil rights leader, antiwar activist, and a prophet. He summed up his faith by saying, "I believe Christianity is a worldview that undergirds all progressive thought and action." He also said, "The Christian church is called to respond to Biblical mandates like truth-telling, confronting injustice, and pursuing peace." His actions and words are evidence that he was able to navigate the tension created by those who would separate power into the categories of church and state, or more accurately, of God and man.
Debbie Royals
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No Going Back
When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did.
Source Unknown
