Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 14, 2024. Amos 7:12-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, Gospel of St. Mark 6:7-13. Theme: Called and Chosen!
Have you ever wondered why out of the billions of people who inhabit planet Earth, you and I have been freely gifted with the Christian Faith? How is it that we are among the 32% of the world’s population that has received the grace of salvation through Baptism? It’s certainly not as if any one of us has done something spectacular to grab God’s attention. And it’s not like we stand head and shoulders above the rest of humanity as more worthy or less sinful. It’s a great mystery to be called by God, to be chosen, to become part of a people uniquely His own. Yet this is what today’s readings are all about.
In the first reading we encounter the prophet Amos, who lived about 700 years before Christ. He was just an ordinary shepherd and gardener, but God called and chose him, then sent him out on a mission. In the second reading, we hear from St. Paul, another ordinary guy who, although he was at first a fierce persecutor of Christians, was called and chosen by Christ, who then sent him on a mission to the Gentiles. Lastly, the Gospel tells us about the Twelve Apostles who were all just ordinary guys with ordinary families working in various ordinary occupations. But then Jesus called and chose them, sending them out as missionary disciples of the Kingdom of God.
Are we seeing the pattern here? God calls and chooses whomever he wishes with a special delight, it seems, in calling and choosing those whom the world finds to be rather ordinary and unimportant. And since the Church teaches that God is unchanging and his ways are perfect, we can be pretty sure that he will act towards us as he did towards those we read about in the Scriptures. This mystery of God’s manner of calling and choosing is exemplified for me in a powerful experience from my childhood that is still quite vivid and meaningful.
If you were like me, growing up in a small town, then you might recall how the neighborhood kids (and there were tons of us back then) would often gather in a local field for a game of ball. The older guys, the jocks of the neighborhood, were of course always the captains. The rest of us wannabes lined up for the ritual of choosing sides where your talents and abilities (or lack thereof) were publicly acknowledged. Now, I could hit the ball pretty well but I just couldn’t run to save my life. While my typical at bat could send the ball far into the outfield, I’d be lucky to pull a single out of what most guys could turn into a double. And so, I dreaded those line-ups before my peers for I knew well where I stood in the rankings.
But there was this one guy named Charles, who even at our young age stood head and shoulders above the rest of us. No one dared to question his choices or doubt his selections. But whenever I saw Charles take up a captain’s spot my fear of humiliation diminished and I would get a kinda smile on my face. Because you see, I knew that whenever Charles was captain I was safe from total and utter embarrassment before my peers. No, he wouldn’t pick me in the first couple rounds because he was after all a jock and wanted to win! But I knew also that I wouldn’t be standing there as the last choice of the day either. Why did he pick me so often? Why did he potentially risk the game by choosing me? Since I really had no extraordinary talent that would merit my selection the only answer I could come up with was that he was just that kind of guy. Within his towering athletic frame was a tender heart as big as his muscles. His action was and remains a mystery to me. But it also has become for me a reflection of Christ who also had a big tender heart and who also chose those who didn’t seem to have a lot to offer for the making of a “winning team”. It seems that like Charles, Jesus has a “soft spot” for the underdog.
I think this is how the Twelve Apostles must have felt when Jesus selected them to become his daily companions and share in his ministry as we hear in today's Gospel. They were a real mix and a ragtag group of ordinary guys who must have been amazed that the Messiah had called and chosen them! There was nothing special or outstanding about any of them. Simon-Peter, was a shrewd impetuous fisherman; the brothers James and John were so emotionally explosive that Jesus nicknamed them the “sons of thunder”; Simon the Zealot was a vengeful guerilla freedom-fighter. And we sure can’t forget Matthew the greedy turncoat tax-collector and of course the infamous traitor, Judas Iscariot. But as unlikely as any of them were to become companions of Christ and sharers in his ministry, they were each called and chosen on no merit of their own. And then they were sent out by Christ on a mission.
So as I said in the beginning, I’ve never outgrown the memory of Charles and his mysterious graciousness in calling and choosing. And for me this experience from childhood has become a kind of meditation on the mystery of Christ’s calling and choosing. Just as Charles’ kindness helped to boost me up and feel a bit less unworthy, so being called and chosen by God tells us that the Lord sees more about us than we can see or that we imagine could be true. So we must never ever forget that being called and chosen means that we no longer have to wonder if we are loveable or fixable. We no longer need to doubt as to if we have some value and mission in this world. God’s gracious and mysterious selection of each one of us has proven our worth! So let’s thank God for Calling us and let’s praise him for counting us among the Chosen!
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