HOMILY
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 14, 2024
Last night, we witnessed the making of history in a tragic way with the assassination attempt on the life of our former president, Donald Trump. In the midst of that attempt on his life, which was spared by millimeters, an innocent bystander was killed, several people were wounded and the likely shooter was killed.
I would be remiss if I failed to speak with you of this moment in our history as a nation and a people. This is not a political statement in support of the Republican candidate for president. It is not a moment to point fingers. It is not a time to engage in the dreadful social media posts that have emerged in the hours since this tragic event. No – this is a moment that demands that all of us reflect upon who and what we have become in the polarized, divided and angry world in which we find ourselves as a people.
We are not responsible for pulling a trigger and taking lives. But we are responsible to set aside hatred, to embrace discourse with respect and to work to build a world of justice, mercy, forgiveness and peace. Nor can we side step our responsibility as Christians. As followers of Jesus, we have all been called to build God’s kingdom – to work for peace – to respect human life in all shapes and forms, regardless of what we believe, how we live, when we come from and what we don’t have.
If we are uncertain of what I’ve shared and its application to our lives, I’d suggest that we all look at today’s scripture passages, particularly the first reading and the gospel. They are providential and speak to what we are experiencing this day throughout our land. Simply put, God’s way of working in our world and using some the most unlikely and reluctant of individuals like you and me in the proclamation and embrace of the mission of the gospel goes back to the very beginnings of his relationship with his people.
In our first reading today from the Old Testament, we encounter the prophet Amos – an extremely reluctant soul who had no intention of becoming a prophet of the Lord. In fact, he states emphatically that he was a shepherd and a tender of sycamore trees. He rejected the title of prophet. He saw himself poorly prepared and trained for the work. Yet God called him and used him to preach to his people.
And in Mark’s gospel, Jesus sends the twelve apostles out on mission for the first time on their own to test the waters and to see how they would fare. … Another example of unlikely individuals for the task presented.
What is so remarkable about the ministry of Amos and the twelve is a common denominator in the call to discipleship. Both the prophet and the apostles knew who they were in relationship with God. While they recognized their limitations, they trusted God and God’s plan to use them in his saving mission.
Indeed, Amos and the twelve had a confidence that grew from that relationship God. They understood that they were chosen by God and provided with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. They trusted that God would not let them down, for after all, they were building HIS Church – not their own. … And that, my friends, is our responsibility as well! It is still God’s Church that continues to be built in our midst – often in spite of ourselves.
Some time ago, Pope Francis spoke words that providentially speak to this moment in our lives as Christians and as Americans. Listen to his words. “We are called to rise over and above our own varied preferences, likes, affiliations or tendencies in order to enter into the expanse of God’s horizon” in and through which we are all blessed recipients of his mercy and love.”
Everyone of us who gather in prayer today is a hopeful presence in our world because of our faith. We are reminded yet again of just how essential it is for all of us not only to affirm with words what we believe but to live out our faith in service of one another and with respect for every life made in God’s image and likeness.
That’s the heart of today’s gospel message and what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus.
May we pray for the grace to embrace the mission of Jesus – even when, like the apostles, we feel a bit ill equipped to do so. Pray too for all the victims of this American tragedy. May God bless our land and, through us, bring peace.