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Fifteenth
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13
By
Father Timothy P. Schehr
Amos,
who certainly was a prophet, has the distinction of giving us one of the
most memorable lines from the Bible when he said, "I was no prophet,
nor have I belonged to a company of prophets."
A little background on the situation in the time of
Amos may be of help. It was eight centuries before the birth of Jesus.
The people of God were split into two separate kingdoms: Israel in the
north and Judah in the south. The Temple of Solomon was, of course, in
Jerusalem, the southern capital. To stop the flow of pilgrims to the
Temple of Solomon, the kings in the north maintained a rival temple at
Bethel, complete with idolatrous images. This temple had more to do with
promoting the king's plans than with honoring God. The priest in
charge of this temple, a man named Amaziah, speaks more truth than he
realizes when he calls the Bethel temple "the king's sanctuary and a
royal temple."
God, always working to steer people toward the path
of life, sends Amos from Judah north to Bethel to confront them with the
truth and warn them about the dangers of idolatry.
The first reading records the kind of reception Amos
received for his message. Amaziah invites Amos to leave, presuming he is
nothing more than a hired holy man from the southern kingdom. That is
when Amos speaks his famous line about not being a prophet before. What
he means is that his mission comes directly from God. He speaks the word
of God not to support himself, as did so many false prophets, but to
serve God's saving plan.
Selfless devotion to God, the kind of devotion Amos
had, is precisely what Jesus demands of His Twelve Apostles when He
sends them out on their first mission. He sends them two by two.
They probably needed such mutual support at this early stage.
Jesus gives them power to do the sort of things He
was doing among the people: preach repentance, free people from
unclean spirits and heal them from sickness. They are clearly doing the
work of God.
To make it even more clear that they are doing
God's work, the apostles are permitted to take nothing for their
journey but walking sticks and sandals items that will truly serve
them on their journey.
Jesus does not allow His apostles to take food, gear,
money or extra garments. Such supplies might suggest they are
self-reliant, and Jesus wants them to learn to rely on God and the
people who respond to God's word. After all, their focus is on God and
not on the things of this world.
When they enter a house, they must remain in that
house until they leave the area so that people will know where to go to
hear God's word.
Jesus instructs His apostles to shake the dust off
their feet in testimony against people who will not welcome them or will
not listen to them. This dramatic act might lead them to reconsider and
eventually open their hearts to God.
(Father
Schehr is a member of the faculty at the Athenaeum of Ohio in
Cincinnati.)