Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jan 30 2025

The Family Business

Working for God doesn’t always guarantee a welcome. When the prophet Amos, from the south, showed up at the sanctuary in Bethel, about fourteen miles north of Jerusalem, the priest Amaziah was not thrilled to see him. “Go home,” he shouted. “Prophesy there and leave us alone.” Amos’ response is interesting. “Not my idea to be here, nor to be doing this,” he says. “I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The Lord told me to do this.”

Perhaps Jesus’ disciples knew the story, since many of them were from up north—the fishermen Peter and Andrew, James and John, to be sure. And more than likely most of the others. When God calls you, you go. The same happened when Jesus came along. All he said was “Follow me” and they did. Now he sends them out, preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out demons. Travel light, he says. Stay where you land. Keep to the message. If they don’t want it, move along.

The Lord continues to send us out, as God did with prophets and as Jesus did with those first disciples. The world needs the message more than ever: God wants a family that will be faithful to God, loving to each other and caring for the earth once entrusted to Adam and Eve for tending. God wants a holy people. This holiness comes as a gift from God, if we accept it. For this message to get out, messengers are needed, witnesses in word and deed. That’s us.

Consider/Discuss

Do you see yourself as “sent” to witness to your faith by word and action?
How do the instructions Jesus gives his disciples carry over into our world?

Responding to the Word

Jesus, Risen Lord, you continue to call men and women to join you in the work of preaching the gospel and delivering the world from the power of evil. Give us generous hearts that we might respond willingly to your invitation and faithfully fulfill the work to which you have called us.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Amos is told to leave the northern shrine of Bethel. The prophet defends his call from God and, in doing so, his right and responsibility to prophesy in Israel. He had not chosen to be a prophet, he had been chosen. He was not the kind of prophet who enjoyed royal patronage, one who was connected with the court or with a particular shrine, nor had he belonged to any prophetic guild. He was a prophet of God, independent of any institution. He insists that he had been summoned by God to be a prophet and then sent to the people of the northern kingdom. His coming to Bethel was due entirely to the command that he received from God.

The reading from Ephesians argues that salvation in Christ is not an after thought; it was in God’s plan from the beginning. Furthermore, the believers were not chosen because they were holy and blameless, but that they might become holy and blameless. Salvation is the cause and not the consequence of righteous ness. Through Christ, believers are chosen for adoption into the family of God. Destined for adoption through Christ, we have been redeemed by his blood. Our redemption exacted a ransom, for we were being redeemed from sin. The author insists that all of this was done so that God’s plan would finally be brought to fulfillment in Christ.

Jesus prepares the Twelve for their first missionary venture. They are given the power to drive out unclean spirits, but they can only do this through the authority of Jesus. They must participate in this mission in a truly self-sacrificing manner. Jesus prepares them for possible rejection and failure. If this happens they are to shake the dust of the place from their sandals as a symbolic act of ridding themselves of any unclean substance that might profane the land of Israel. They are to preach repentance, drive out demons, and heal the sick. In this way, the reign of God will be inaugurated.

Jan 27 2025

Making a Difference

A preschooler reaches up and beams, “I love you, Mommy.” A young father stops the homilist and says, “Your preaching has helped me to trust God more.” A cashier looks at the hospital chaplain with tears in her eyes and murmurs, “Thank you for your kind words on the day that my husband died.”

There are few things so rewarding as making a difference in someone’s life. To touch people’s lives warms the giver’s heart. The elation of helping others is very real.

Today, Jesus sends the apostles out two by two. Imagine the excitement to be given the authority to do the “mighty deeds” of the Teacher! The delight at seeing demons fall, the euphoria of healing the sick, and the conversion of the broken-hearted—can you picture it? That had to be exhilarating.

The prophet Amos was sent from taking care of his sheep to prophesy to the people of Israel. To be on a mission is motivating. Fire burns within and propels us forward: “Come on! Let’s go!”

Those moments of elation keep us giving. The satisfaction of helping others keeps us going. Yet Jesus provided the Twelve with nothing for the journey. They were not permitted to be self-sufficient. They had to work in solidarity with one another. Why? Perhaps Jesus knew the temptations to grow proud and to get puffed up, to feel heroic. The human emotion of being on a mission is just part of the story. God is the Hero of heroes. St. Paul says that we are chosen for a purpose, God’s purpose. We serve for the praise of God’s glory.

It is the living God who wants to be at work through us. That is the supreme cause for rejoicing. Imagine that joy!

Consider/Discuss

Over and over again, we are free to choose whether to serve others or serve ourselves, whether to give glory to God or to ourselves, whether to follow God’s purpose or our own. Within one lifetime, those daily choices form who we are and what we become. What would you like to do today?
Tell stories of grace. How has someone warmed your life? Whose mission has gladdened the way you see the world? How has God been at work through others to hearten and heal and encourage you?

Living and Praying with the Word

Holy Spirit, you have poured love into our hearts. You are the strength and the power beneath our acts of kindness and compassion. We do nothing without your grace. Jesus, you look upon our bravery; you look upon our meager efforts to serve you; you look upon our “mighty deeds,” and you smile a thousand smiles. For you love us. You know that it is serving others that makes life worth living. Heavenly Father, you have created us that way, and so you give us those opportunities to make a difference for each other. Thank you, Holy Trinity, for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your kindness.

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

Amos has been preaching in Bethel, an important cultic site that featured a golden calf, set up by Jeroboam as a rival cult to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26–31), and thus “the king’s sanctuary.” Amaziah addresses Amos as if he were a “professional” prophet whose earns his bread by prophesying. Such prophets were often suspect, since their “prophecies” could be geared to favor whoever paid them. Amos insists that he is not a professional prophet; he had a job from which he was taken away by God to perform the dangerous task of preaching in places like Bethel. The rhetorical point is to affirm that Amos is a genuine, because reluctant, prophet, not one seeking to profit from his task.

Paul begins his letter the Ephesians by bringing into focus the divine plan, which the church has been formed to announce. The language of being “chosen” and called to be “holy and without blemish” recalls God’s creation of Israel. In the case of both Israel and the church, God has redeemed and forgiven because God is rich in grace, but also for a larger purpose, “the mystery of his will,” which is now revealed to be to “sum up all things in Christ.” The church, then, is not a collection of individuals, but a people called forth by God for a purpose, which, when fully known, will lead to the “praise of the glory of his grace.”

Despite the faithlessness he has recently encountered, Jesus now sends the Twelve out with the authority to do the “mighty deeds” he has been able to do for those who have faith. They are taking almost nothing with them, which is both an expression of trust in God’s providence and a sign that they are not seeking profit from their work. This is also why they are told to stay in the same house that welcomes them, rather than to accept any offers they may receive for nicer accommodations—another sign they would be looking out for themselves rather than the Kingdom and the people to whom it is proclaimed.

Jan 15 2025

Rejuvenating Sluggish Hearts

Isaiah provides us with a glimpse of what ecologists today would refer to as the integrity of creation. Focusing on precipitation in the forms of rain and snow, he traces the cycle that it takes. His understanding comes from observation of nature, the primary source of wisdom. This metaphor assures us that we can be as confident of the power of the word of God as we can be of the working of the natural world. Just as nature produces miracles upon which we can rely and because of which we can survive, so the word of God can effect miracles upon which we can rely and because of which we can live.

Paul’s teaching on the end of time takes a very interesting turn. He maintains that the new life of which he speaks is not limited to the human sphere. Rather, the entire created world participates in this transformation. The entire created world is somehow swept up with humankind into this eschatological drama, awaiting the revelation that will be granted the children of God, not as spectators, but as participants. Paul assures the Christians that they already possess the first fruits of the Spirit, a pledge that guarantees they will be brought into full transformation. By implication, all of creation will be brought along with them.

The Gospel parable focuses neither on the sower nor on the seed, but on the receptivity of the soil. The parable is not a difficult story to understand. But what does it really mean? Jesus provides his disciples an allegorical interpretation of the parable. In each case described, the sown word is actually heard; to some extent it is accepted. Jesus is not referring to outright rejection from outsiders, but to the way followers receive the word of God. When one understands the meaning of the parable, one is apt to wonder: What kind of soil am I? How receptive am I to the word of God?