Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

Am 7:12-15

Ps 85:9-14

Eph 1:3-14

Mk 6:7-13

 

St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, Burkburnett, TX

St. Paul Catholic Church, Electra, TX

Christ the King Catholic Church, Iowa Park, TX

 

When I was in my second year of seminary, I was assigned to do chaplain ministry in a hospital. I visited with patients and tried to bring them the hope of the Gospel through my presence and conversation. I never knew what awaited me behind each door. Often I felt unprepared and even terrified. Various thoughts would run through my mind: ‘What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say? What if I cannot help a patient at all? Up to this point my training had been in business and information technology. I wasn’t equipped for this! What the heck am I doing?’ Eventually I came to realize that being prepared for every situation was not the point of discipleship. My duty was to be obedient in the mission I was given by God. Sometimes, I had a good visit and helped the patient find hope in their circumstances. Other times, I was rejected and pointedly asked to leave. Any success I had was because the hand of God was leading me. I felt a bit like Amos in today’s first reading, I suppose. He was called by God out of his comfort zone to become a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel. The head priest in the capitol city of Bethel saw Amos as competition and told him to leave – to go back to the southern kingdom of Judah and do his work there. He didn’t like Amos taking a piece of his pie. Amos corrected Amaziah: doing the work of God is not a job. It is a vocation and a calling.

By virtue of our baptism, each one of us has a vocation from God to be a disciple of Jesus Christ – to be the light of the world and to proclaim the Gospel in our words and our actions; by how we live our lives. As St. Paul wrote in the second reading from his Letter to the Ephesians, God called us to be his adopted children even before we existed in the wombs of our mothers. God calls us to participate in the life and mission of Jesus Christ despite the fact that we are unprepared, unequipped, and untrained. He calls us even though we are sinners in need of mercy ourselves. But because of the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He is able to work through us even with all our shortcomings.

In the Gospel, Jesus sent out his Apostles in pairs to practice what he had been teaching them to do. At this point in Mark’s Gospel, they had been with Jesus only a few short weeks. They were largely unprepared, unequipped, and untrained! And yet, Jesus gave them a share of his divine authority so that they could work alongside him in his mission to conquer the kingdom of evil in the world. He does the same with us even now. The Apostles were about to learn that discipleship is not about graduating from some program of study. Discipleship is learned by doing – by practicing – by imitating our Risen Lord. When Jesus sent his Apostles out on their mission, he gave them important instructions – instructions that apply to us today as we do His work for the Kingdom. Jesus sent them out in pairs to teach us that we are to endure hardships together, to look out for one another, and to share our experiences along the journey of discipleship. Jesus forbade them to bring anything except a walking stick to teach us not to depend on our material needs, but to trust that God will provide for us. Following the teaching of Christ, the Apostles were able to heal many people and free them from illness and disease.

From the very beginning of the Church, part of its mission has been to heal the sick. Remember that the Church was born within the Roman Empire. Even though the Romans, building on the science and knowledge of the Greeks developed medicine to a high level for the time, people who were sick or seen as defective were typically abandoned and cast out, even by their own families. Jesus introduced something new into the Roman world in the Gospel as we heard today. We are to care for the sick and infirm. This is a sacred charge laid upon us by the Lord Jesus himself (CCC 1509). It was something that distinguished the early Church from the society around them. People found this new idea of mercy attractive and they came to the Church in droves. Caring for the sick is a way disciples proclaim the Gospel. This is why the Church has built so many hospitals and nursing facilities over the centuries. It is why the Church has always worked tirelessly to care for the sick and the dying.

Those who work in healthcare professions are doing noble work for the Gospel. Like being a prophet, medical professionals are not just doing it to make a living, but are living the Gospel through service. They have been given a special charism of healing (CCC 1508). Now, am I saying all of us should quit our jobs and become doctors or nurses or medical technicians?  No, of course not. Remember that discipleship is not completing a training program. It is doing what Jesus did; imitating His example in love, in the vocation and station of life where we are right now. So what should we do, then?

This is a small town; we all know each other. When we come to Mass, we should notice who is not there. Call or visit them to see if they are doing ok. (Our Protestant brethren are really good at doing this. We need to learn from them.) Critically important here in the parish is the mission to accompany those who are sick. When people suffer debilitating illness, whether physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual, they experience a loss of freedom. They feel vulnerable, isolated, fearful, or abandoned. Jesus especially sought out the vulnerable, the isolated, the fearful, and the abandoned. We all share a mission to make sure those in this parish community who become sick, or injured, or infirm never feel isolated or abandoned. ‘But Father! What can I do? I am unprepared, unequipped, and untrained!’ So was Amos, so were the Apostles, so was I when I was a chaplain! There are a bajillion things we can do when we let go and let God guide us: call or visit someone who you notice is absent, comfort them with a kind word or a sympathetic look, offer and ask how to help them, bring them a rosary or holy card, pray with and for them, bring them flowers to brighten their day - the list is endless. One special thing I must remind us to keep in mind is our need for the sacraments and the prayer of the Church. The only thing we cannot do is to do nothing.

Last week, a parishioner approached me about a fellow parishioner who was sick at home. I called the parishioner at home and found that they indeed wanted the sacraments, but were hesitant to call me thinking I might be too busy to see them. My precious flock, I am never too busy to bring the sacraments to you! The Church teaches us that the Anointing of the Sick is not just for those who are near the point of death. Any time anyone is in danger of death from illness or old age, they should receive anointing. (CCC 1514) In the sacrament of anointing, the one anointed “receives a special grace from the Holy Spirit, granting the strength, peace, and courage to overcome the difficulties” they are enduring. They receive healing of the soul and also of the body, if it is God’s will. (CCC 1520)

When we become aware of someone in our parish community who is homebound, who is in the hospital, who is about to go into the hospital or undergo surgery, or who is dealing with a chronic health issue, we should remind them of the grace of God imparted by reception of the sacraments. Ask them if they would like to receive the sacraments. Help them contact the office to make that visit happen. Like the Apostles Jesus sent out in the Gospel, we are to look out for one another, endure hardships together, and share this experience of discipleship.

 

St. Joseph, Hope of the Sick and Patron of the Dying, Pray for Us!