Homily for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 7, 2024. Ezekiel 2:2-5; Gospel of St. Mark 6:1-6. Theme: Prophets & Patriots
It’s so appropriate that today’s Liturgy follows closely on the heels of Independence Day, because our readings have some important things to say about our Christian identity and mission as prophets, as messengers of God. Throughout the Scriptures, being a prophet like Ezekiel in our first reading was considered to be a most noble form of service to one’s country. And I think that’s also valid for us today. True patriotism, as shown in the Bible and reflected in our Declaration of Independence, finds its highest expression in calling others to worship and honor God, who is the Foundation and Source of our rights and our freedom.
In ancient times, prophets were anointed with holy oil as a symbol of being consecrated to God and fueled for their mission by the Holy Spirit. The early Church kept this custom as part of our sacramental rituals, and so each one of us were anointed with Sacred Chrism at Baptism and again at Confirmation as a sign that we too are dedicated as prophets of God. And that we, too, like Ezekiel, St. Paul and most of all Jesus himself, are anointed with the Holy Spirit and sent out as prophets. It might be helpful to recall that a prophet is not primarily someone who foretells the future as many think (although that can indeed happen if God wills it). Rather, a prophet is someone whom God chooses to be his spokesperson, his mouthpiece so to speak, so that people can come to know him, hear his Word and be transformed by his grace from the inside out.
Now, our mission of bringing Christ and his Good News to an entire nation from coast to coast may seem totally overwhelming. But we don’t look at it that way. We break it down into smaller, doable parts by following Jesus' example. You see, when he began his public ministry he didn’t reveal himself as the Messiah to the entire Israelite nation all at one time. No, he began by calling his disciples individually. Then each of them in turn witnessed to their family and friends about what Jesus meant in their lives and this interpersonal cycle continued so that the community of disciples grew and grew. Within 400 years that original band of just 12 Apostles became 35 million Christians whose influence totally changed the entire Roman Empire and eventually gave birth to a whole new culture and world.
But once again, we need to remind ourselves…how did it all happen? Very simply through person-to-person contact. One introduces Jesus to another who, in turn, brings the Lord to yet another and so on. We are each to be like yeast in a batch of dough, as Jesus once said, influencing others by our words and behavior. This means we are to bring Jesus and his Gospel into our homes and workplaces; into our social lives and into our politics. We are to share our faith in Jesus in a positive way as opportunities arise in our normal everyday conversations. And most of all, we are to be credible witnesses to Christ who back up what we say by the way we live our lives.
Now, in carrying out our anointed mission as prophets we may very well be treated like Jesus was in his hometown of Nazareth as we heard in today’s Gospel. At first the villagers were impressed by his reputation. But then they began to reminisce about how he grew up among them and was simply just one of them, and his ordinariness began to offend them. Their criticism grew and they became more stubborn in their refusal to believe that he could be anything more than they were; that he could be a prophet or even the Messiah!. And they began asking out loud just who in the world he thought he thought he was! We too might experience this same kind of scenario to some degree. Our good intentions and sincere efforts might be misunderstood or even ridiculed by those who know us best. And because they know us best, this means that they have also seen us at our worst, and so they might throw that back in our faces saying, “just who do you think you are?” But ridicule and rejection didn’t deter Jesus from carrying out His mission and it shouldn’t stop us from carrying out ours, either.
Today’s readings teach us that being a prophet does indeed mean speaking out when necessary. And this is never an easy thing to do. It requires us to be the conscience of our nation, identifying the lies and evils that others are blind to or are willing to ignore. But as both patriots and prophets we are impelled to give voice to the fact that the further our nation drifts from God, the further away it will find itself from upholding justice, promoting peace, assisting the poor and defending the value of all human life. We are called to warn our nation that when God is exiled from public life and when the light of Christ is not allowed to shine, then all that will be left will be the darkness of fallen human nature, still in the grips of Satan and sin. Recent world history just within the past 100 years proves the sad truth that even Christian nations can decline into this darkness when their governments disregard God, ignore human dignity and trample upon civil and religious rights.
But even in all of this, we are not prophets of doom and gloom. We are and must always remain messengers of joyful hope for we know that nothing at all is impossible for God. Both Scripture and history show us that when a straying nation returns to God, he will bless and revive it. And so people need to hear what God wants to say to them through us. They need to know that God’s grace will never fail them, that Christ’s help is always available to them, and that they do not have to be held prisoner to their past nor be defined by their present choices. They need to know the awesome truth that anything they have done can be forgiven and that all can be forgotten by the tender mercy of God who is their loving Father. And most of all they need to be told that death has been conquered once and for all by Christ, that he is alive and eager to give the gift of eternal life to anyone who desires it and trusts in him. There truly are people all around us today who have never heard these things and it’s up to each one of us to be messengers of this Good News. And if we do not speak up, then God will ask us why we did not tell them when we had the opportunity.
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