Sunday Soundbite for July 11, 2021

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B
July 11, 2021

Being a prophet was not the “ideal job.” Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

If you ever had any doubt, today’s First Reading makes it clear that prophets usually didn’t seek out their role. Amos is confronted by the priest Amaziah at the shrine of Bethel in the land of Israel. The prophet has apparently offended both the king and the priests. His reply: He didn’t want the job in the first place! It was God who called him and sent him to speak a message—unpopular though that message might be.

While our Gospel for today doesn’t describe the unpleasant side of delivering God’s message, Jesus seems to anticipate that might happen as he commissions his disciples for a preaching mission. If they aren’t welcomed, he says, they are to leave that place and shake its dust from their feet.

Christians today are likewise commissioned to take a message to the world. It seems these days that our message is more and more prophetic, more and more calculated to meet with rejection in a world that finds our values alien.

We may not want the job, but it’s ours. Our great and holy calling is outlined by Paul in the Second Reading. He says that God’s choice of each of us comes with the power of the Spirit with whom we are sealed. May we be courageous in our prophetic role.


Franciscan Media newsletters


Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content