The Mission Comes First

Homily for July 12, 2015 (15th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Amos 7:12-15; Psalm 89; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13

Last Sunday, I joined tens of millions of people throughout the world to watch the final game of the Women’s World Cup football (soccer) match between the USA and defending champion Japan.  Like many others, I was inspired and even awed by the dominant performance of the USA.  They scored a remarkable four goals in the first 16 minutes; and despite that huge lead, they maintained their defensive intensity even as the team from Japan—who had defeated them four years earlier in a shoot-out—valiantly refused to give up.  From 22 year-old Morgan Brian to Christie Rampone, a wife and mother who had been on the roster for 19 years, they were clearly a team on a mission.

As followers of Jesus we are also a team on a mission—one of far more lasting consequence than any sporting event, even one as popular as the World Cup.  Our Scripture readings describe several dimensions our own call to be what Pope Francis has called “missionary disciples.”

First, God calls us as we are.  Amos, a self-described “shepherd and dresser of sycamores” in the southern kingdom of Judah in the 8th century BCE, was seemingly minding his own business when God called him to go north and proclaim a message of repentance and reform to the people of Israel.  Already considered an outsider, he was treated with disdain if not hostility by Amaziah and the other “house” prophets who refused to challenge the religious and social status quo, even when it defied God’s covenant and led to the oppression and exploitation of the poor.  In contrast to their accommodation and negligence, Amos accepted that the prophet’s role is “to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.”

Second, God calls us in grace.  The author of Ephesians, writing in the tradition of St. Paul, sought to remind the members of the early church that they were blessed with God’s forgiveness and redemption.  Even more important, however, they blessed for a purpose:  to be renewed in the gospel, to grow in holiness, and to direct themselves and our world more and more toward life in Christ.  In other words, the grace they had received was also the grace they were called to share.  This is the essence of evangelization—we are so blessed by God’s goodness we want to give it away!

Third, God sends us forth in trust and simplicity with a sense of urgency.   Having been disrespected and dismissed by many of his own people in Nazareth, Jesus didn’t wallow in self-pity but instead sent his disciples out to continue the work he had begun:  preaching, teaching and healing—all with the faith that God would be with them and provide for their needs.

Finally—God sends us forth together.  While there may be “stars” in the Church as in other areas of life, there are really no successful “lone rangers.” Jesus himself needed and wanted disciples to further his mission; and he sent them out two-by-two. When Carli Lloyd, who had just completed an unprecedented “hat trick” by scoring three goals in the Women’s World Cup Final against Japan, saw Abby Wambach coming onto the pitch in the 79th minute, she took off the blue captain’s armband and put it on her teammate.  After the game, it was Wambach who in turn took off that same armband and put it on Christie Rampone, a member of the 1999 World Cup championship team, for the trophy presentation.

Regardless of her personal accomplishments, Carli Lloyd never forgot that the team and the mission came first.  It’s a lesson we in the Church—called as we are in grace and sent forth together as disciples of Jesus—do well to remember. +