15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Amos 7: 12-15; Psalm 84 (85): 9-14; Ephesians 1: 3-14; Mark 6: 7-13
Picture: By Joeyy Lee on Unsplash
My dear friends, how are we coping with work? Even if we are already retired or in-between jobs, a home-maker or still in school, isn’t this question still relevant to us, if not directly, then at least indirectly? All the more because the face of work is changing rapidly. For better or worse, some countries are moving towards a 4-day work week. Greece being a notable exception. Also, more jobs now offer the possibility of working off-site. And, what’s perhaps most significant of all, it’s becoming more and more difficult to stay in a chosen career. In the past, it was possible to devote one’s youth to training for a career, and then most of one’s adulthood to practising it, before spending the twilight years relaxing in retirement. But now, increasingly, many have to go through two or more cycles of training and practice, often in different fields, even as the retirement age gets raised ever higher. And it’s taken for granted that the growth of artificial intelligence will further accelerate this process. So how are we to cope? The obvious way is, of course, to continually push ourselves to learn new skills, to acquire fresh knowledge, to keep up with work’s rapidly changing face.
Our scriptures, however, offer us a different approach. They remind us that, more than just an external face, work also has a deeper heart… When Amaziah calls Amos a seer, or a prophet, in the first reading, he sees prophecy only as an occupation, as a means of earning (one’s) bread. Amaziah is talking about the face of work. But Amos quickly corrects the priest, by telling him that, for Amos, prophecy is not a mere career that he has chosen for himself, but a vocation, for which God has chosen, called and sent him. It was the Lord who took me from herding the flock, and the Lord who said, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” God’s call lies at the very heart of Amos’ prophetic work.
Similarly, when the Twelve apostles in the gospel set out to preach repentance, to cast out… devils, and to cure the sick, they do all this not as a mere occupation, but as a vocation. They do it, because Jesus has summoned and sent them, as well as giving them authority over the unclean spirits. Over all the evil influences that diminish human dignity, and occasion human suffering in this world. And it’s important for us to see that this prophetic work of preaching and healing, benefits not only those who receive it, but also those who perform it. Isn’t this what the second reading reminds us?
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ… By choosing, calling and sending us in Christ, God has blessed us not just with one or two or even three, but with all the blessings of heaven. Not just training us for a career that’s here today, and may be gone tomorrow, but forming in us and for us an enduring identity: the priceless gift of being adopted sons (and daughters) of God. Not just freeing us from the burden of our sins, but also revealing to us the grand vision of God’s eternal plan for all of creation, as well as our cherished place in that plan. Whatever our chosen career or occupation or state of life, whatever we may happen to do to earn our living, we Christians share the dignity of a common vocation. We are chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who… put their hopes in Christ… As it was for Amos and the Twelve, so too for us. God’s call lies at the heart of all we do.
But if this is true, if God’s call were truly to lie at the heart of everything we Christians do, then doesn’t it follow that there should be one specific type of training that we need most of all? One crucially important ability, in which we all need to be formed? The same ability that the psalmist is exercising in the opening verse of the psalm, when she says, I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people… The ability to listen attentively, to recognise perceptively, and to respond generously to God’s voice, amid the many other different voices that call out to us every day. A tender, loving, and merciful voice that calms and consoles us, even as it may challenge us. Calling and sending us to share this same precious blessing with others, including our own beloved children and grandchildren. Helping them too, to allow God’s voice to remain ever at the heart of all they do.
And isn’t this a blessing and an ability that’s needed all the more now, when so many are being driven to burnout and mental distress, just trying to keep up with the ever-growing demands of daily living? For when one is forced to keep changing one’s face, isn’t it only to be expected that doing so might well place a heavy strain on one’s heart?
Sisters and brothers, even as we may have to keep up with the rapidly changing face of work, what must we do to help one another allow God’s voice to remain always at the heart of all we do, today and every day?
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