HOMILY
FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B
Rev.
Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi
Some persons seek job
while some jobs seek persons. There is a story of a young man who passed out
from the university with the best result of his set. Many Companies and Firms
began writing to him and begging him to come and work for them. They needed him
to come translate the wonderful result in their job places. They needed
efficiency, and for these Firms, efficiency is dependent of academic
excellence. Surely, this is true, but there is an extent where it does not apply.
Some persons may not do excellent academically, but are excellent in the field.
Some persons are powerful painters and artists even when they had not studied
anything theatrical and aesthetic. Thus, we may say that Amos never received the training for prophecy but he had the character. You need just to do it well, and the job
will seek you. Yes, some jobs seek persons; persons who have characters and
qualities needed for the job. For instance, if we assume God to be an employer,
what do you think would be his needed qualities in men for the role of
prophesy?
One can claim or belong
to the company of prophets but has lost his prophetic voice, while another who
does not belong to that group can be called by God to do the job. After all,
God is the employer. This was simply the case of Amos in the First Reading
(Amos 7:12-15) of today. There was a group for prophets known in Israel from
the early monarchical years. They were so to speak the professional prophets. They were respected and sometimes paid for
their prophecies by the people who listened to them; and this led them to
corruption. They expected gifts for their prophecies; little wonder then they
carried collecting bags which Jesus
warned His disciples against. In some other Ancient Near Eastern religious practices,
it was worse. The servants of their gods and goddesses went about with bags to
collect contributions for the temple and for their gods. They were regarded as pious robbers. There was even an
inscription in which a man who regarded himself as a slave of the Syrian
goddess said that he brought in seventy bags full each journey for his lady.
Most probably, the professional Israelite prophets of the time may not deny being
influenced by such a practice.
Now, we understand
better why Amaziah had to tell Amos to leave their land and go back to Judah;
there he could earn his bread by prophesying. Thus, Prophesy became for these
men a source of liveliness. And so, God had to select and elect some other
person(s) that would relay His message in an unflinching manner and with no
corruption. Thus, when Amos stated that he was not a prophet, he made it clear
that he was not in the ‘guilds’ of prophets known in Israel. He denies
relationship with the professional prophets. This denial could become a denial
against their practices of prophesy for money, for firm and for themselves, which
led them to prophesy what was only pleasant to the people. His prophetic call
was not his choosing but the choosing of God who called him out of his major
means of livelihood, which was shepherding and dressing of sycamore. This
reminds us of God’s choice of David who was called from the pasture to be
prince over Israel (cf. 2 Sam. 7:8). Amos, by this answer too appears to us as
a simple person who, with no thought of personal advancement or motivation,
responded to a spontaneous call of God to serve in a special and authoritative
capacity. It therefore stresses the claim to authority on the part of the
prophet; that is, he did not want the job, but the job came seeking for him, as
he was compelled by God to do it anyway. This answer thus serves as a
preparation to the new prophetic role which would be set by Jesus Christ in the
New Testament.
This new role and the
rules that would guide it are seen in the Gospel of today (Mark 6:7-13). Jesus
summoned (called/elected) the twelve and sent them out two by two (mission) and
gave them authority over unclean spirits (the role of prophecy). Jesus elected
his new people and gave them mission to become prophets of the new age. Since the
Old dispensation of the prophets had failed to work according to the mind of
God, Jesus would now inaugurate a new people who would pattern their prophetic
life in line with the prophetic role of Amos which is according to the way God
wants it. Since the New age has come, Jesus would now give them some
instructions so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. 1) They were to take
nothing for the journey (no food, no sack, and no money). 2) They were to take
only the most necessary things (walking stick, sandals). 3) They were to be
contented with the available homes for mission work 4) They were to leave any
house that refuses their message. Having kept the instructions, they returned successful
from the mission.
These instructions were
geared towards the disciples’ training in detachment and contentment (not
accumulation and luxury in material things), total resignation to the will of
God (who would be with them in the person of the hospitable), total dependence
on the good will of the people (not an imposition or forced charity), and
humility to discover that they were merely sent and must not be accepted
everywhere. And because of the transitory nature of their work, it becomes more
understandable why they should not be overloaded. It would not be wise to waste
time on a particular place of rejection to the detriment on so many other areas
of possible acceptance. These would become some kind of missionary manual for
the apostles of the early Christian community, and can also become our manual
in the present world bereft of contentment and detachment. We are today faced with
the problems of materialism, insecurity based on care of missionaries,
frustration that may come from aversion and rejection from the people
ministered to. This is also some bit of encouragement to all those who take
care of prophets of today not to give up in their spirit of hospitality and
charity.
But beyond looking at
this in its direct application to the Church, we can also apply it to see ourselves
as missionaries to one another, to the world of pleasure and discontentment, to
the world of generosity and hospitality, to the world of rancour and hatred, to
the world that shuts out other persons who are not of the same family, group or
society, to the world that grows selfish day by day, to the world that sees the
visit of other people as a threat to their strength or economy, to the world
that trades togetherness, love and unity for national security, boundary
protection and national pride. This also makes a call to the world that abuses
hospitality to inflict pains on people, to the world that plays goodness in the
guise of treachery, and to the world that plays down on truth in the guise of
diplomacy. We therefore pray that Jesus raises among us more successful
missionaries for our world of today. Amen. Happy new week. God bless you.
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