Road to Emmaus Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jul 8, 2009

First Reading – Amos 7:12-15

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14

Second Reading – Eph. 1:3-14

Gospel Reading – Mk. 6:7-13

 

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus begins to send the Twelve out two by two. Up until this point in the Gospel, it is Jesus and Jesus alone who speaks with divine authority, and then acts with divine authority through casting out demons, curing illnesses and raising the dead. The Apostles have not done much.

 

Jesus now begins to share his authority with the Twelve. He “…gave them authority over unclean spirits” (Mark 6:7b). They are now called to do some of what Jesus has been doing. Jesus will from this point forward share more and more of his authority with the Twelve. They will fully become Christ to the world when he ascends into heaven and the Holy Spirit is poured out. Their mission is, and will continue to be, the mission of Christ.

 

The fact that the Twelve will be Christ to the world is made even clearer toward the end of the passage: “So they went out and preached that men should repent” (Mark 6:12). This is precisely how Jesus began his public ministry. After being baptized in the Jordan and tempted in the desert, Jesus “…came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15). The Twelve do what Jesus did, not by imitation, but by participation. They participate in the very authority that the Father has given the Son.

 

The Twelve then “cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them” (Mark 6:13).

 

Connection with Amos

 

Now we might ask, how is all of this connected with the Old Testament reading for this Sunday taken from the book of the prophet Amos?

 

Amos was a prophet who spoke to the ten tribes of the northern Kingdom of Israel after the division of the twelve tribes into two separate kingdoms in 930 B.C.

 

In the passage for this Sunday we are told the Amaziah, a wicked priest, who is loyal to the wicked King Jeroboam II, comes to Amos and basically tells him to get out of town and go prophesy somewhere else. Amos responds by saying, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman [shepherd], and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophecy to my people Israel’” (Amos 7:14-15).

 

Amos is saying that he is not a prophet because of his own doing, or because of family lineage, like the pagan prophets. He is a mere shepherd. God called him to go and prophesy. It is God doing the sending out of Amos as a prophet. God calls him, and gives him the gift of prophecy, which is spoken with divine authority.

 

This is how it is for all authentic prophets of Yahweh. We see this clearly with the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah “heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’ And he said, ‘Go, and say to my people…” (Isaiah 6:8-9a).

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We hear this from the prophet Jeremiah: “Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms…” (Jeremiah 1:9-10a).

 

Of course there is also the obvious example of the prophet Jonah as well.

 

What might this Old Testament background have to teach us in relation to the Gospel reading from Mark?

 

God does the calling, God does the sending and God gives the authority to the prophets in the Old Testament. In the Gospel, Jesus does the calling, Jesus does the sending and Jesus gives the authority. The conclusion we must draw is that Jesus is God, and the Twelve are indeed prophets in the Kingdom of God.

 

In conclusion, let us listen to the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Jesus is the Father's Emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he ‘called to him those whom he desired;…and he appointed twelve, whom also he named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach.’ From then on, they would also be his ‘emissaries’ (Greek apostoloi). In them, Christ continues his own mission: ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ The apostles' ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus said to the Twelve: ‘he who receives you receives me’” (858; Mark 3:13-14; John 20:21; Matthew 10:40).