Reflections
for Sunday, July 12, 2015
Some are called to be evangelizers and some are called to be prophets. You
and I are Christians and we are called to be evangelizers and prophets in
some way for the good of the Church and for proclaiming the Good News of
salvation in Jesus Christ.
The early Church recognized that there are many ways to live out this
calling of evangelization and prophecy. Not all are called in the same
way. On the other hand, we all recognize that we must give witness to the
presence of Jesus in our lives. Thus if we are put to the test, we must
proclaim Jesus by our words and by our way of living.
The first reading today, from the Prophet Amos, is a statement from that
prophet, telling us that God took him and forcibly made him a prophet to
Israel. He did not want this calling but had to be faithful to what God
asked of him. This can happen to us also. More and more we see the values
given to us in Scripture and given to us by Jesus Himself being put to the
test. We will be asked to deny these values and we must be prepared to
stand the test and be faithful to the Lord.
Today we can find many ways to soften the teachings of Scripture and of
Jesus, to cast doubts on His word and what it means for the present day
Christian. But in time, we will see that this has all been in vain. The
secular culture wants us Christians to abandon all values except those
agreed upon by secular culture. We are being invited to become like the
profession prophets, who simply tell others and their rulers whatever they
want to hear. This assures the secular prophets a living and brings
comfort to those who want to hear religious figures affirming that the
secular values are just fine.
The Gospel of Mark today picks up this same theme: proclaim the Word of
the Lord! Proclaim this word to others and be prepared to be rejected.
There will be some who will not welcome you and who do not want to listen
to you. Don't waste your time with them. Instead, go on to those who do
welcome you and listen to you.
These two readings are pretty strong teaching for us today. Most of us
prefer not to get involved in controversy and even less in religious
controversy. We should be able to see, however, that the direction of most
developed countries today is in the direction of the denial of all
religious values.
The second reading today, from the Letter to the Ephesians, reminds us that
we have heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and have believed
in Jesus and have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. We must be
prepared to die for our faith. Even more, we must be prepared to live for
our faith today, when so often this faith is being questioned.
May we have courage, may we remain faithful to the Church, may we embrace
the full teachings of Jesus and may we be prepared to live this faith unto
death.
Readings of the day:
First Reading: Amos 7.12-15
Second Reading: Ephesians 1.3-14
Gospel: Mark 6.7-13
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